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Yes, personal choices are important. I believe that many people around with world will need to make significant changes to their lifestyles, whether by choice t

Yes, personal choices are important. I believe that many people around with world will need to make significant changes to their lifestyles, whether by choice to lessen their carbon footprint or by necessity to adapt to new realities in the coming decades. I'm wary of that common strain of techno-utopianism that takes the stance that we can maintain our current lifestyles if only we switch to electric cars, renewable energy, and compostable shopping bags. But we also need to think about what choices are available to people and what we can do on a larger scale to confront carbon pollution and global warming. Let's think critically about personal choices as they relate to climate change: - Does my family have access to quality, local food? - Do I have enough information about my the way my produce, grains, etc. were grown to make a purchase decision based on its climate impact? - What is the transportation infrastructure like where I live? - How does my local, state, or national government incentivize car or home ownership? ...and so on. EDIT: Formatting.

spodek 9y ago
> But we also need to think about what choices are available to people As long as people act on what they can and not bog themselves down in analysis. The main reason is that the more people act, the more they find more opportunities to act more, whereas the more they analyze, the less they act. In an entrepreneurial community like HN, it's like realizing that acting on your venture is the best way to progress. Of course, that doesn't mean to act thoughtlessly, but you don't have to think much for most low hanging fruit. I would rephrase all your questions from passive analysis to active. For example, instead of > Does my family have access to quality, local food? I suggest "What can I do to increase my family's access to quality, local food?" Instead of > Do I have enough information about my the way my produce, grains, etc. were grown to make a purchase decision based on its climate impact? I suggest "What can I do to improve how food is produced around me..." We're not passive recipients of what systems created based on no-longer-credible beliefs about the Earth. We are active participants and can influence these systems.

spodek 9y ago

> But we also need to think about what choices are available to people As long as people act on what they can and not bog themselves down in analysis. The main reason is that the more people act, the more they find more opportunities to act more, whereas the more they analyze, the less they act. In an entrepreneurial community like HN, it's like realizing that acting on your venture is the best way to progress. Of course, that doesn't mean to act thoughtlessly, but you don't have to think much for most low hanging fruit. I would rephrase all your questions from passive analysis to active. For example, instead of > Does my family have access to quality, local food? I suggest "What can I do to increase my family's access to quality, local food?" Instead of > Do I have enough information about my the way my produce, grains, etc. were grown to make a purchase decision based on its climate impact? I suggest "What can I do to improve how food is produced around me..." We're not passive recipients of what systems created based on no-longer-credible beliefs about the Earth. We are active participants and can influence these systems.