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I don't think anyone is seriously proposing to stop all use of petroleum products overnight. The most commonly proposed policy, which is actively being implemen

I don't think anyone is seriously proposing to stop all use of petroleum products overnight. The most commonly proposed policy, which is actively being implemented elsewhere in the world, is to tax fossil fuels - which currently carry major unpriced externalities - to incentivize the use of lower-carbon alternatives. For instance, only 4% of global oil output is used in plastics. The vast majority is used in transportation and heating. Plastics, unlike transportation fuels, can also be recycled. It's not oil or no oil. It's putting in place the systems and policies to responsibly end our reliance on oil and coal before we cause even more damage to our climate.

CuriousSkeptic 8y ago
Well, a bunch of countries have more or less agreed on aiming for no more than 1.5 degrees warmer. IPCC made a report on what that would entail stating basically that even with an overnight abolishment it cannot be reached. But that if we assume it feasible to use afforestation and other techniques to extract CO2 from the atmosphere in the future we might have chance to reach that target for 2100 given we stop using fossil fuels by 2030. Given the scale of the transition necessary, overnight or 11-years is more or less the same time frame Edit: Great TED-talk on the scale of what’s needed https://youtu.be/E0W1ZZYIV8o https://youtu.be/E0W1ZZYIV8o