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> Bill Gates said somewhere that steel and cement production are the key factors for stopping climate change. Baby production is the greater key, as noted with
by spodek 6y ago
> Bill Gates said somewhere that steel and cement production are the key factors for stopping climate change.
Baby production is the greater key, as noted with his promoting the solutions of Mechai Viravaidya, who helped bring Thailand's birth rate from around 6 or 7 to below 2 children per woman using methods the opposite of the One Child or eugenics policies: voluntary, non-coercive, educating, and fun.
- gostsamo 6y agoFast search reveals this. https://www.gatesnotes.com/Energy/Buildings-are-good-for-people-and-bad-for-the-climate https://www.gatesnotes.com/Energy/Buildings-are-good-for-peo...
- snarf21 6y agoYeah, population is our real problem. We need to raise the standard of living around the world and empower women to work out of the home and start business. This naturally reduces the birth rate and we get rid of the horrible patriarch societies.
- collyw 6y agoBit of a catch 22, no? You increase peoples standards of living and they will use more resources but reproduce less. Mabye some women don't want to work out of the home. Do women seem happier here than before? (Though the option should be available to them).
- devdas 6y agoAnnoyingly, the higher standard of living comes with a very high carbon footprint. We need to empower women and lower living standards.
- kolinko 6y ago„Empower women and lower living standards at the same time” - hilariously said :) But seriously - an increase in living standards can go hand in hand with carbon reduction. It’s a matter of proper tech and policies.
- bottled_poe 6y ago> It’s a matter of proper tech and policies. I would love to see evidence of this supposition.
- lostapathy 6y agoOnce I put solar panels on my roof, I can leave my lights and TV on 24x7 without putting more carbon in the atmosphere.
- slothtrop 6y agoWe have a higher carbon footprint in the West, but this is a moot point if the population level stagnates or even drops. Particularly with innovation. You're forgetting that population growth in the developing world is what drives immigration and leads to more of those very-high-carbon-footprints. The birth rate in the 1st world is stagnant. Our growth is due to immigration. Eliminating global poverty and allowing universal access to contraceptives would effectively kill the problem.
- djrobstep 6y agoNo need for lower living standards - just need to work fewer hours, which both lowers consumption and increases living standards.
- blisterpeanuts 6y agoOr use the "Downsizing" (Matt Damon movie) approach: reduce humans in size so as to inherently consume fewer resources. For example, use growth inhibitors to keep people stunted at, say, one meter in height. If applied to every baby today, would eliminate the need for billions of tons of carbon emissions, meat consumption, cultivated land, etc., after about 15-20 years.