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In the first month of my fourth year since I chose to live by another environmental value of not flying -- which has become one of the best decisions of my life
by spodek 8y ago
In the first month of my fourth year since I chose to live by another environmental value of not flying -- which has become one of the best decisions of my life by improving it beyond any expectations -- I look forward to more nations, organizations, and people choosing similarly.
More of us keep finding that unquestioned following the values of a system created in ignorance that we could lower Earth's ability to sustain human life and culture doesn't make us happier.
Taking responsibility for how our behavior affects others doesn't sound as much in-the-moment fun as most of the crap that burning fossil fuels does, but it builds community, personal growth, and enduring emotional reward.
I used to crave eating mangoes in the tropics and seeing as many of the world's sites as I could. Now I see the bigger issue wasn't the mangoes or sites, which were passing fancies, but the craving, which the oil industry shows in the article. Life in service of others, compassion, responsibility, and such outweigh whatever profits they get abandoning them.
I can give their past generations of pollution the benefit of the doubt for our collective ignorance. The evidence of the result of their craving is overwhelming now. I hope they escape that craving in favor of responsibility and humanity before my home, and the homes of billions of others, is underwater.
- microcolonel 8y agoEasy for you to say after a lifetime of flying.
- spodek 8y agoIf I could change the past, I would.
- fhbdukfrh 8y agoI too plan a death bed confessional to be absolved of all my sins.
- loftyal 8y agoIt's much easier to say that once you've done it.
- pertymcpert 8y agoOh of course, I plan on having that attitude once I have all the meat I desire.
- village-idiot 8y agoI’m utterly unconvinced that meat eating is inherently bad for the environment. The initial studies decrying meat production were fatally flawed and had to be withdrawn. Better animal husbandry is needed, but not mass scale conversion away from meat.
- YeGoblynQueenne 8y ago>> The initial studies decrying meat production were fatally flawed and had to be withdrawn. Source for this claim, please? I too think that there is a lot more that should be done to safekeep the environment that sustains us before we have to stop eating meat altogether but I have never before heard that particular studies were "fatally flawed" and were withdrawn.
- village-idiot 8y agoI can’t find the source I originally had for the paper being withdrawn, but it looks like one of the original authors believes that the paper was flawed. The original article claimed that eating meat produced more CO2 than driving, but they used the wrong methods to compare the two. For meat, they measured lifecycle emissions. Everything involved in raising, transporting, slaughtering, and processing meat was measured. I think this is a fair measure. For transport they only measured tailpipe emissions, which is deeply misleading. You need to include the cost of oil discovery, refining and transport, plus the emissions of steel and concrete production for cars and roads. The actual tailpipe emissions of a car is a small fraction of its emissions, which is why buying a used ICE vehicle is greener than buying a new EV. The summary, not the body of the paper, claimed that meat production accounted for 18% of emissions, more than transport, both statements appear to be wrong. Transport is actually 26%, and meat is closer to 3-4%. In America meat production and grain production have roughly equal emissions, with meat producing 42% of our overall agricultural emissions. There are for certain things we can do to manage land, manure, and water better. But I believe that focusing on reducing/eliminating meat is misguided. Sources: - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/climatechange/7509978/UN-admits-flaw-in-report-on-meat-and-climate-change.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/climatech... - https://www.futurity.org/dont-blame-cows-for-climate-change/ https://www.futurity.org/dont-blame-cows-for-climate-change/
- immad 8y agoIt would be fairly easy to fly and pay a carbon offset to the equivalent of your flight.