24 ms·

Meanwhile >50% of China’s electricity comes from coal and they are currently building >100 new coal plants.

Afforess 5y ago
If you make a low effort comment, I'll make a low-effort rebuttal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism
_Microft 5y ago
That does not mean that we cannot or should not try because if we want this change (and we need it!) someone just has to start.
- ars 5y ago
  I didn't read his comment that way, rather than our focus on where change is needed should be elsewhere. Environmentalists far too often celebrate symbolic and useless wins, like the plastic straw ban, that doesn't actually do anything. That sounds bad ... I don't mean this win is useless - this win is awesome, but no one should rest on their laurels.
  - MaxHoppersGhost 5y ago
    Exactly. The biggest impact we could make is to hold China accountable. But it’s also not popular and doesn’t make people feel warm and fuzzy like banning plastic straws does.
    - _Microft 5y ago
      Your initial comment would have been a lot better if you had actually included that part ("The biggest impact we could make is to hold China accountable because 50% of their electricity ..."). As it is it looks a lot like whataboutism as another commenter remarked.
o7qlSEOEb0 5y ago
For a problem that doesn't discriminate by national boundaries, using someone else's lack of effort as a benchmark and ignoring the problem makes it worse for everyone. Its better to do the best you can and set a standard for others, and to be honest prove that doing so can be economically viable would be a great outcome, so others follow suite with fewer apprehensions.
- MaxHoppersGhost 5y ago
  Or we could hold China accountable to the same standards instead of let their industry trash the planet at our expense.
  - toomuchtodo 5y ago
    It would be rational to use tariffs as a cross border carbon tax.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

If you make a low effort comment, I'll make a low-effort rebuttal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism

_Microft 5y ago

That does not mean that we cannot or should not try because if we want this change (and we need it!) someone just has to start.

ars 5y ago
I didn't read his comment that way, rather than our focus on where change is needed should be elsewhere. Environmentalists far too often celebrate symbolic and useless wins, like the plastic straw ban, that doesn't actually do anything. That sounds bad ... I don't mean this win is useless - this win is awesome, but no one should rest on their laurels.
- MaxHoppersGhost 5y ago
  Exactly. The biggest impact we could make is to hold China accountable. But it’s also not popular and doesn’t make people feel warm and fuzzy like banning plastic straws does.
  - _Microft 5y ago
    Your initial comment would have been a lot better if you had actually included that part ("The biggest impact we could make is to hold China accountable because 50% of their electricity ..."). As it is it looks a lot like whataboutism as another commenter remarked.

o7qlSEOEb0 5y ago

For a problem that doesn't discriminate by national boundaries, using someone else's lack of effort as a benchmark and ignoring the problem makes it worse for everyone. Its better to do the best you can and set a standard for others, and to be honest prove that doing so can be economically viable would be a great outcome, so others follow suite with fewer apprehensions.

MaxHoppersGhost 5y ago
Or we could hold China accountable to the same standards instead of let their industry trash the planet at our expense.
- toomuchtodo 5y ago
  It would be rational to use tariffs as a cross border carbon tax.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]