Ask HN: What can I do to actively fight climate change?

Climate change can't be fought on a personal level. That's just propaganda to shift responsibility onto the individual consumer and there are plenty of bleeding hearts out there that eat it up and conjure up guilt for something out of their control on a macro level

Working at Tesla, or another car company working on EVs, is one of the most direct ways to immediately have a big positive impact.

But working for "the next Tesla" would be the most potential positive impact, given that Tesla has already achieved its goal of forcing the car industry towards EVs.

You could make a list of the most harmful industries and work at a company trying to force them into change, like Tesla is doing with the auto industry.

> To those who suggest "don't have kids"

I would also accept "pay people to not have kids", similar to how some countries pay people to have kids [1] [2] [3] [4]. Not having kids has value, and hence those who choose not to should be compensated appropriately.

EDIT: @EForEndeavour: People who have children receive tax credits and benefits simply for having them (US centric) and their future impacts are externalities.

[1] https://qz.com/200728/what-countries-around-the-world-give-t...

[2] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carte_famille_nombreuse

[3] https://www.france24.com/en/20130611-why-french-women-make-m...

[4] https://www.vhemt.org/bbbounty.htm

> Someone like you, willing to volunteer your skills even part-time, would be a God send.

Lots of people have this idea, including me in the past.

It doesn't work. Nonprofit professionals aren't stupid. They know volunteers disappear as soon as something else comes up (paid work, kids, just wanting to relax, etc.) Most of them won't waste their time with "skilled volunteers."

If you want to help a cause, you have to get into the mud. It needs to be your focus. These are complex problems with lots of stakeholders that are highly tuned to whether you actually give a shit or whether you're a tourist trying to make yourself feel better about working for a big corporation.