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> Would you take an 80% paycut to eradicate this problem? Where do you get this from? I haven't seen anything suggesting that such a paycut would be necessary

by agd 10y ago

> Would you take an 80% paycut to eradicate this problem? Where do you get this from? I haven't seen anything suggesting that such a paycut would be necessary and/or follow from the required CO2 reduction.

throwaway2016a 10y ago
If you're an oil company executive you may need to take a 100% pay cut :) But in general I think* that sustainable energy and technology will actually make high quality of life cheaper and more achievable. * No sources cited, take with grain of salt
tabeth 10y ago
I guess I wasn't clear -- the point I was trying to make isn't about the paycut, or even the percentage, but rather just conveying that a huge lifestyle change would be necessary. One I'm skeptical that most would be willing, and able to make.
- throwaway2016a 10y ago
  I for one is scared of this lifestyle change... How am I ever going to live with electric cars with instantaneous torque that drive themselves? Or all the electricity I can get from the sun? I really don't know how I'm going to deal with paying almost nothing to heat my house in the winter due to geothermal heating instead of this nice gas fire that is currently burning in my furnace. And I'm going to miss having all those plastic bags from the grocery store under my sink. It will be so inconvenient having to reuse the same durable bag every time. And it's too bad I'm going to have to have a 1/2 cm thin high efficiency OLED 4k TV instead of having a 20 lbs monstrocity hanging from my wall. I'm being snarky and a bit of an ass but I see a world gone green as a world of opportunity not a world of sacrifice. And free fertilizer from compost instead of paying a small fortune for it at the store is a real drag. We really can have our cake and eat it to. In many many cases green technology is both better for the environment and just plain better all around. Well unless you're invested in dirty energy.
  - umanwizard 10y ago
    We don't have nearly enough renewable energy yet to replace coal and oil based electricity
    - ben_w 10y ago
      Check what happened in the UK in 2016 for the first time since the Industrial Revolution. And then look how far north the UK is compared to the USA. If the UK can do it, almost every nation is guaranteed to be able to do it. (Those that aren't guaranteed, have other options).
      - RugnirViking 10y ago
        As someone from the UK, what are you referring to? We have a pretty poor environmental record as things go, especially as what little there is is propped up by scotland
        ben_w 10y ago
        For a few days in 2016, the UK burned zero coal. This is was the first time on record, and those go back to the first coal fired power station in 1882: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/13/uk-energy-from-coal-hits-zero-for-first-time-in-over-100-years https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/13/uk-energ... Edit: Yes I do know this didn't continue permanently, but as recently as 2013, coal was the UK's largest single source of electricity. Change is faster than most people realise. :)
  - throwaway2016a 10y ago
    > We don't have nearly enough renewable energy yet to replace coal and oil based electricity "Yet" Because people keep fighting it. Meanwhile I bet you that Elon Musk is going to make a fortune off of clean technology. A smart business person who is highly capitalized should be jumping on the opportunity to turn "not yet" into "now"

by agd 10y ago

throwaway2016a 10y ago

If you're an oil company executive you may need to take a 100% pay cut :) But in general I think* that sustainable energy and technology will actually make high quality of life cheaper and more achievable. * No sources cited, take with grain of salt

tabeth 10y ago

I guess I wasn't clear -- the point I was trying to make isn't about the paycut, or even the percentage, but rather just conveying that a huge lifestyle change would be necessary. One I'm skeptical that most would be willing, and able to make.

throwaway2016a 10y ago
I for one is scared of this lifestyle change... How am I ever going to live with electric cars with instantaneous torque that drive themselves? Or all the electricity I can get from the sun? I really don't know how I'm going to deal with paying almost nothing to heat my house in the winter due to geothermal heating instead of this nice gas fire that is currently burning in my furnace. And I'm going to miss having all those plastic bags from the grocery store under my sink. It will be so inconvenient having to reuse the same durable bag every time. And it's too bad I'm going to have to have a 1/2 cm thin high efficiency OLED 4k TV instead of having a 20 lbs monstrocity hanging from my wall. I'm being snarky and a bit of an ass but I see a world gone green as a world of opportunity not a world of sacrifice. And free fertilizer from compost instead of paying a small fortune for it at the store is a real drag. We really can have our cake and eat it to. In many many cases green technology is both better for the environment and just plain better all around. Well unless you're invested in dirty energy.
- umanwizard 10y ago
  We don't have nearly enough renewable energy yet to replace coal and oil based electricity
  - ben_w 10y ago
    Check what happened in the UK in 2016 for the first time since the Industrial Revolution. And then look how far north the UK is compared to the USA. If the UK can do it, almost every nation is guaranteed to be able to do it. (Those that aren't guaranteed, have other options).
    - RugnirViking 10y ago
      As someone from the UK, what are you referring to? We have a pretty poor environmental record as things go, especially as what little there is is propped up by scotland
      - ben_w 10y ago
        For a few days in 2016, the UK burned zero coal. This is was the first time on record, and those go back to the first coal fired power station in 1882: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/13/uk-energy-from-coal-hits-zero-for-first-time-in-over-100-years https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/13/uk-energ... Edit: Yes I do know this didn't continue permanently, but as recently as 2013, coal was the UK's largest single source of electricity. Change is faster than most people realise. :)
- throwaway2016a 10y ago
  > We don't have nearly enough renewable energy yet to replace coal and oil based electricity "Yet" Because people keep fighting it. Meanwhile I bet you that Elon Musk is going to make a fortune off of clean technology. A smart business person who is highly capitalized should be jumping on the opportunity to turn "not yet" into "now"