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> The problem is those externalities have turned out to be pretty bad, and our economic systems have been slow to respond. The problems are much more specific
by majormajor 5y ago
> The problem is those externalities have turned out to be pretty bad, and our economic systems have been slow to respond.
The problems are much more specific and blatant than that:
* The externalities were known to be bad by the oil companies and this knowledge was suppressed.
* Our economic system is incapable of responding because there is no direct fiscal cost of the externalities that would make alternatives cheaper at the point-of-purchase decision point.
* Fossil fuels being good at what they do is exactly why external regulation is needed to get us out of that unhealthy addiction.
- 542458 5y agoI entirely agree. Strong carbon taxes or other similar systems are the way forward. By correcting for the true cost of pollution we can allow renewables to really shine. I was only trying to push back against the idea that we’re only using fossil fuels because of capitalism. We’re using fossil fuels because with our initial naive inspection they appear to be an excellent, bordering on miraculous, resource. I’m not denying that they’ve turned out to be very harmful and/or that people have done bad things to preserve the naive interpretation.