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The world may have less time than it thinks on climate change

economist.com

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Re: The world may have less time than it thinks on climate change

#81

Post by danans »

esseph wrote: post #50
rickydroll wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, a carbon tax would go a long way, but I think a broader view is to look for ways to use taxes to shift externalities back onto the organizations that created the problem. For example, data centers (a popular demon). The two main externalities are water consumption and power consumption. The tariffs for providing those services to a data center should be high enough to compensate the rest of the community for the…

> I would also advocate closing the on-prem generator loophole by classifying on-prem power generation services as belonging to or leased from local utilities, Congrats, now all power generation is owned by the power company, including your own solar, wind, and fossil fuel generation.

> your own solar, wind, and fossil fuel generation.

The OP was clearly talking about on premises primary power generation for datacenters.

The utility doesn't have a way to own my residential generation.

Re: The world may have less time than it thinks on climate change

#82

Post by sobkas »

sho_hn wrote: post #9

It's strange that anyone's still thinking there's "still time until we have to act". Is this really the average view out there?

Because there is still time.

We might not stop what is already happening or what will happen, but we still have time to make it less severe than it would be if no action would be made.

We still can save lives, not all of them but some and for this people it will make a difference.

Re: The world may have less time than it thinks on climate change

#84

Post by dgellow »

anonymars wrote: post #28
measurablefunc wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Like a carbon tax?

I don’t know what the comment you responded to said, give it is flagged. But really, the time for carbon taxes was 15y ago. It’s not such a small bandaid compared to the size of the problem

Re: The world may have less time than it thinks on climate change

#85

Post by abroszka33 »

cautiouscat wrote: post #29

I recognize this is deeply cynical and definitely doomerist. What can I as an individual actually do to stop this? Why should I even bother reading articles like this at this point? I can't do anything. I can't action it. I can collect my recycling, pop solar panels on my roof and be the most carbon footprint conscious person and it wouldn't move the needle an atom's width. Politicians don't care, and the ones that d…

It's hard to accept, but there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.

Re: The world may have less time than it thinks on climate change

#86

Post by ballsac »

cautiouscat wrote: post #29

I recognize this is deeply cynical and definitely doomerist. What can I as an individual actually do to stop this? Why should I even bother reading articles like this at this point? I can't do anything. I can't action it. I can collect my recycling, pop solar panels on my roof and be the most carbon footprint conscious person and it wouldn't move the needle an atom's width. Politicians don't care, and the ones that d…

[dead]

Re: The world may have less time than it thinks on climate change

#87

Post by nostromo »

talon8635 wrote: post #55
teachrdan wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What can I as an individual actually do to stop this? Short of becoming the Luigi of the environmental movement, there is nothing an individual can do. You have to take part in some kind of ongoing collective action. This can include joining a campaign against the oil and gas industry, going door to door for candidates who will reverse climate change, or engaging in direct action against environmentally destructive…

What did Luigi accomplish? If nothing, then why the comparison?

Because the commenter wanted to call for violence in a clever way that wouldn’t end up being reported and removed.

Re: The world may have less time than it thinks on climate change

#88

Post by gwbas1c »

cautiouscat wrote: post #29

I recognize this is deeply cynical and definitely doomerist. What can I as an individual actually do to stop this? Why should I even bother reading articles like this at this point? I can't do anything. I can't action it. I can collect my recycling, pop solar panels on my roof and be the most carbon footprint conscious person and it wouldn't move the needle an atom's width. Politicians don't care, and the ones that d…

> I can collect my recycling, pop solar panels on my roof and be the most carbon footprint conscious person and it wouldn't move the needle an atom's width.

The more people who do that, the faster the needle moves. You create economic incentives for businesses to cater to you, and you set an example for others to follow.

That's why I only buy electric cars, put solar on my roof, and heat with a heat pump. A few years later, my parents put in a heat pump, and an extended family member (who is a denier) also put in a heat pump.

Re: The world may have less time than it thinks on climate change

#89

Post by engineer_22 »

chneu wrote: post #57
teachrdan wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What can I as an individual actually do to stop this? Short of becoming the Luigi of the environmental movement, there is nothing an individual can do. You have to take part in some kind of ongoing collective action. This can include joining a campaign against the oil and gas industry, going door to door for candidates who will reverse climate change, or engaging in direct action against environmentally destructive…

Nonsense. This is defeatist talk. This is the logic folks use when they make dozens of small actions that add up, like buying more plastic cuz "it doesn't matter". The honest truth is people who use this logic have made the decision and just don't want to say, "I don't care." Small actions make big differences at scale. 8 billion people all making hundreds of decisions a day make a difference. Once an individual star…

Capitalism enables too much material wealth. Astounding.

Re: The world may have less time than it thinks on climate change

#90

Post by dgellow »

talon8635 wrote: post #73

Birth rates are in decline. The global population is estimated to peak in the 2080s. I suspect that could be later than reality as the endless doom (like this article) inspires more and more people to not have kids. Then as the population declines precipitously, nature takes back over and begins resolving the problem itself.

Population decline will not solve climate change, we already passed multiple points of no return that will result in worsening climate for the next 50-100y. And there won’t be a way to roll back those changes
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