5 ms·

It will take focused, continual political will to invest some of our vast stores of capital in technologies that preserve our standard of living yet have a smal

It will take focused, continual political will to invest some of our vast stores of capital in technologies that preserve our standard of living yet have a smaller carbon footprint. Elon Musk and co are proving that we can build luxury and eco-friendly at scale. Entrenched, monied, existing political ties to fossil fuel and extraction industries still exert control. I'm not willing to take the position there's nothing we can do until we've fully shaken them off the backs of our political system.

bryananderson 9y ago
Do you see the population clamoring to reduce fossil fuel use, only to be stymied by lobbyists? I don't. I don't see the people clamoring at all. I agree completely that tech investment is a much easier political sell than reducing the standard of living.
- omegaworks 9y ago
  Just because you don't see people doing it now doesn't make it impossible. People passively use fossil fuels because they are the norm. It will take investment from both our government, from private industry, and from grassroots activists pressuring both to make the norm clean and sustainable.
  - bryananderson 9y ago
    Scientists, celebrities, activists, and politicians have been screaming at the public for decades about this. They have used logical and emotional appeals. They have appealed to data, to our common humanity, to our long-term prosperity, to our duty to our children. None of it has worked. What exactly do you propose? The "norm" is whatever is cheapest. That is what we have to do: make renewables cheapest.
    - omegaworks 9y ago
      I think we're talking about the same things. I'm just trying to make the case for how we should make renewables cheaper. The existing non-renewable oil & gas norm historically depended upon heavy investments in infrastructure: 1. Interstate expressway system 2. Oil and gas pipelines 3. Fracking R&D 3. Direct tax subsidization of private refining and exploration. We need that level of effort applied to renewables development.

bryananderson 9y ago

Do you see the population clamoring to reduce fossil fuel use, only to be stymied by lobbyists? I don't. I don't see the people clamoring at all. I agree completely that tech investment is a much easier political sell than reducing the standard of living.

omegaworks 9y ago
Just because you don't see people doing it now doesn't make it impossible. People passively use fossil fuels because they are the norm. It will take investment from both our government, from private industry, and from grassroots activists pressuring both to make the norm clean and sustainable.
- bryananderson 9y ago
  Scientists, celebrities, activists, and politicians have been screaming at the public for decades about this. They have used logical and emotional appeals. They have appealed to data, to our common humanity, to our long-term prosperity, to our duty to our children. None of it has worked. What exactly do you propose? The "norm" is whatever is cheapest. That is what we have to do: make renewables cheapest.
  - omegaworks 9y ago
    I think we're talking about the same things. I'm just trying to make the case for how we should make renewables cheaper. The existing non-renewable oil & gas norm historically depended upon heavy investments in infrastructure: 1. Interstate expressway system 2. Oil and gas pipelines 3. Fracking R&D 3. Direct tax subsidization of private refining and exploration. We need that level of effort applied to renewables development.