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The average American uses twice as much energy as the average Briton, five times more than the average Brazilian and eleven times more than the average Indian.

The average American uses twice as much energy as the average Briton, five times more than the average Brazilian and eleven times more than the average Indian. Is the problem that we've got too many people, or is it that the resources we have are being distributed completely unequally? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_energy_consumption_per_capita https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_energy_co...

jotm 9y ago
The problem is that everyone strives to get to the American level. Nothing wrong with public commute and having your own garden/mini-farm. Really easy, too.
- cellularmitosis 9y ago
  Indeed, I think much of the problem stems from everyone needing a job, and not having enough time. If I were unemployed, yet housing were free and groceries were free at the local walking-distance market, I probably would not own a car and could entertain myself indefinitely with a laptop, earbuds, library card, barbell, and soldering iron. I could live happily on a tiny fraction of my current energy consumption. With further automation in farming and self driving 18-wheelers, this reality is not that far fetched.
Turing_Machine 9y ago
The "problem" (to the extent that it is a problem) is that Britain has 65 million people on an island smaller than the U.S. state of Oregon, most of which has an extremely moderate climate. The U.S. is orders of magnitude larger (i.e., more transportation costs) and has significant regions that require large-scale heating or air conditioning to make habitable. Some require both. Also, Canada uses even more energy per capita than the United States, for pretty much the same reasons.
- jdietrich 9y ago
  >significant regions that require large-scale heating or air conditioning to make habitable. Some require both. People only moved to the really hot parts of America in significant numbers because of the invention of air conditioning. They abandoned vernacular architectural techniques that kept buildings comfortable using passive cooling. The entire population of the US could comfortably fit into the climatically mild parts. Vast areas of the US never get particularly cold in winter or particularly warm in summer. As with suburban sprawl, the human geography of the US is built around wasteful energy use. Those trends were established over time and they can be reversed over time. https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/thermal-delight/ https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/thermal-delight/
  - Turing_Machine 9y ago
    "The entire population of the US could comfortably fit into the climatically mild parts." Yeah, well, the entire population of the US could be put in giant warehouses, eating in cafeterias and hotbunking the beds in three shifts. But that's no way to live. "Vast areas of the US never get particularly cold in winter or particularly warm in summer." Where are these "vast areas"? Outside of maybe the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii, I can't think of any.

jotm 9y ago

The problem is that everyone strives to get to the American level. Nothing wrong with public commute and having your own garden/mini-farm. Really easy, too.

cellularmitosis 9y ago
Indeed, I think much of the problem stems from everyone needing a job, and not having enough time. If I were unemployed, yet housing were free and groceries were free at the local walking-distance market, I probably would not own a car and could entertain myself indefinitely with a laptop, earbuds, library card, barbell, and soldering iron. I could live happily on a tiny fraction of my current energy consumption. With further automation in farming and self driving 18-wheelers, this reality is not that far fetched.

Turing_Machine 9y ago

The "problem" (to the extent that it is a problem) is that Britain has 65 million people on an island smaller than the U.S. state of Oregon, most of which has an extremely moderate climate. The U.S. is orders of magnitude larger (i.e., more transportation costs) and has significant regions that require large-scale heating or air conditioning to make habitable. Some require both. Also, Canada uses even more energy per capita than the United States, for pretty much the same reasons.

jdietrich 9y ago
>significant regions that require large-scale heating or air conditioning to make habitable. Some require both. People only moved to the really hot parts of America in significant numbers because of the invention of air conditioning. They abandoned vernacular architectural techniques that kept buildings comfortable using passive cooling. The entire population of the US could comfortably fit into the climatically mild parts. Vast areas of the US never get particularly cold in winter or particularly warm in summer. As with suburban sprawl, the human geography of the US is built around wasteful energy use. Those trends were established over time and they can be reversed over time. https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/thermal-delight/ https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/thermal-delight/
- Turing_Machine 9y ago
  "The entire population of the US could comfortably fit into the climatically mild parts." Yeah, well, the entire population of the US could be put in giant warehouses, eating in cafeterias and hotbunking the beds in three shifts. But that's no way to live. "Vast areas of the US never get particularly cold in winter or particularly warm in summer." Where are these "vast areas"? Outside of maybe the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii, I can't think of any.