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Bill Gates: You’ll never solve climate change by asking people to consume less

cnbc.com

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Re: Bill Gates: You’ll never solve climate change by asking people to consume less

#31

Post by Schroedingersat »

nyokodo wrote: post #24
Schroedingersat wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look at how ignored political groups have traditionally made their voices heard. Like racial equality movements, unions, or womens' suffrage.

None of those movements required any degradation of the living standards of the majority of people but at most just the elites or a particular class and then not substantially. Climate is a very different fight.

There are countless ways to improve living conditions while reducing emissions.

Free sustainable transport would stop the least privileged from having to fork over a third of their paycheck to auto and fossil fuel companies while freeing up billions spent on roads.

Making landlords accountable for energy wasting housing design would reduce energy bills.

Not invading countries for their gas and mineral reserves is pretty good for the people that live there.

A direct carbon tarriff distributed evenly by population would lift living standards for the underprivileged and give them the resources to make a choice for lower emissions options.

Right to repair, accountability for forced obsolescence or design faults and consumer rights decrease waste and benefit the poor immensely.

Re: Bill Gates: You’ll never solve climate change by asking people to consume less

#32

Post by refurb »

I agree 100% with Bill.

You need to incentivize more efficient consumption. Whether through technological advances or through policy that “nudges” people to consume more efficiently (e.g. carbon taxes).

But the challenges remains. Severs governments were cutting taxes and handing out cash when gas prices jumped. That’s the exact opposite of what you want to do.

Re: Bill Gates: You’ll never solve climate change by asking people to consume less

#33

Post by jshzglr »

anemoiac wrote: post #30

Decreasing consumption doesn't necessarily imply a decrease in quality of life. In the West, at least, we generally work too much, have too little social engagement, and spend lots of money and resources on things that don't really improve our lives. Many things that could actually make us happier don't require much consumption, but they're essentially luxury goods because of the modern lifestyle's high demands. I'm…

Most of this is pretty obvious and yet people act differently. That’s the whole point. It’s not a realistic solution.

Re: Bill Gates: You’ll never solve climate change by asking people to consume less

#34

Post by yucky »

yongjik wrote: post #19
DLA wrote: post #8

Hey Bill and other elites - does this mean no more 20,000 square foot homes and private jets?

I always feel the talks of private jets are missing the point. (Besides, it's always the private jets of Al Gore and Bill Gates that are in question. People never ask about the private jets of BP execs.) To simplify, let's assume that Bill Gates has a Boeing 747, which burns about 38 pounds of fuel per mile [1]. Distance between New York (JFK) and London (LHR) is 3,440 mile. For a round trip, double that, so we have…

>Besides, it's always the private jets of Al Gore and Bill Gates that are in question. People never ask about the private jets of BP execs.

Because the BP execs aren't being hypocrites and telling all the commoners to lower their living standards..

Re: Bill Gates: You’ll never solve climate change by asking people to consume less

#38

Post by hedora »

shakezula wrote: post #29
hedora wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A dollar a gallon direct air capture carbon tax would make gasoline net carbon negative. Clearly, that would lead to mass hysteria and societal collapse. /s

You got a source for this? I believe it’s probably roughly true but I haven’t read those figures and would absolutely love to see more.

Computed it myself. Direct air carbon startups are advertising $50-$200/ton at scale.

A ton is 2000 pounds. A gallon of gasoline emits 20lbs of co2 when burnt (most of the weight is in the o2, so the emissions are heavier than the gasoline).

Divide the per ton prices by 100 to convert to per gallon of gas, and you get $0.50-$2.00.

The existence of the tax would ensure they all had enough revenue to scale; fund them all initially, then let economics pick the winner.

Re: Bill Gates: You’ll never solve climate change by asking people to consume less

#39

Post by scarface74 »

Schroedingersat wrote: post #10
timst4 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree full-heartedly as a dutiful member of Citizens Climate Lobby. However, if we can’t pass this legislation with a Democratic political stack in place, then when?

Look at how ignored political groups have traditionally made their voices heard. Like racial equality movements, unions, or womens' suffrage.

And statistically the Justice system still gives minorities harsher sentences for the same crime and are targeted more and union participation is down.

Well I guess one out of three isn’t bad.

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