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That's totally true, but it's also true that if we reined in consumption, altered our habits and focused on reusing more then we are doing two things. First, we

That's totally true, but it's also true that if we reined in consumption, altered our habits and focused on reusing more then we are doing two things. First, we're taking ownership for our responsibility in this whole mess (acknowledging that there are trees in this forest), and second we're hurting oil companies where it counts. If we don't consume they can't supply. If we wait for our governments to hold them to account we're not going to get anywhere.

nicoburns 5y ago
If we pushed up the cost of that consumption I'd be willing to bet we'd see it magically reduce.
jkubicek 5y ago
I don't think focusing on individual responsibility will work. In order to make a meaningful difference we need to make sure that a) everyone knows what the issues are and what changes need to be made b) everyone is willing to make the sacrifices necessary If we've learned anything from (the entire history of the human race) it's that people who know and care will shoulder the burden of making changes while those who don't will benefit from it all. If we want to make a dent in our fossil fuel consumption, we need meaningful action at the national and global scale by major political powers. Taxes, regulation, criminal consequences are the only way to move the needle. edit: dougmwne said it better than I did: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28317665 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28317665
- SuoDuanDao 5y ago
  That may be true, but refusing to make meaningful sacrifices before everyone else does is awful PR. Even if the only meaningful thing anyone can do is change public opinion, leading by example is still the most effective way of doing so. I really think the DeFi movement is the only group making any headway there, because reducing consumption is billed as a means to further one's own self-interest there.

nicoburns 5y ago

If we pushed up the cost of that consumption I'd be willing to bet we'd see it magically reduce.

jkubicek 5y ago

I don't think focusing on individual responsibility will work. In order to make a meaningful difference we need to make sure that a) everyone knows what the issues are and what changes need to be made b) everyone is willing to make the sacrifices necessary If we've learned anything from (the entire history of the human race) it's that people who know and care will shoulder the burden of making changes while those who don't will benefit from it all. If we want to make a dent in our fossil fuel consumption, we need meaningful action at the national and global scale by major political powers. Taxes, regulation, criminal consequences are the only way to move the needle. edit: dougmwne said it better than I did: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28317665 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28317665

SuoDuanDao 5y ago
That may be true, but refusing to make meaningful sacrifices before everyone else does is awful PR. Even if the only meaningful thing anyone can do is change public opinion, leading by example is still the most effective way of doing so. I really think the DeFi movement is the only group making any headway there, because reducing consumption is billed as a means to further one's own self-interest there.