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> "We should all stop flying only if Steve puts out the campfire in his back yard" - ok, but that one of these things dwarfs the other. The carbon footprint of

> "We should all stop flying only if Steve puts out the campfire in his back yard" - ok, but that one of these things dwarfs the other. The carbon footprint of a single commercial space flight is orders of magnitude higher - in fact, it's higher than the entire lifetime carbon footprint of the median human being, and approximately equivalent to the lifetime carbon footprint of the average American. One doesn't have to depend on the other, but this comparison is wrong because it ignores the fact that commercial space travel is, in fact, one of the single most environmentally-damaging activities imaginable.

V__ 5y ago
I think the poster above didn't try to say that commercial space travel is good. Just that the attitude of "I won't change if someone else doesn't" is not productive. Sure a single space flight can't compare to a single normal flight but if enough people restrict them self a bit it would make a big dent.
- whatever1 5y ago
  You make all of this effort so that Musk can burn it in 20’?
  - V__ 5y ago
    That's not the point neither I nor the poster above was making at all.
arcticbull 5y ago
I just looked it up. [edit](An average rocket)[1] emits 300T of CO2 on the round-trip. That's the same as a 777 flying from NYC to LHR round-trip. Except there have been 18 Blue Origin launches and there's 85,000 annual round trips from NYC to LHR alone. It's certainly inefficient and not individually good for the planet, but it's a pricy luxury few can afford, and one that can be easily managed via carbon tax. Refusing to address the 85,000 annual round-trips on just the NYC-LHR corridor because one rich guy ran 18 launches with the same carbon footprint, I mean, I'm sure he's flown his private jet over the Atlantic more than 18 times. Remember, per person, the Blue Origin launch produces as much CO2 as 85 Bitcoin transactions. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jul/19/billionaires-space-tourism-environment-emissions https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jul/19/billionaires...

V__ 5y ago

I think the poster above didn't try to say that commercial space travel is good. Just that the attitude of "I won't change if someone else doesn't" is not productive. Sure a single space flight can't compare to a single normal flight but if enough people restrict them self a bit it would make a big dent.

whatever1 5y ago
You make all of this effort so that Musk can burn it in 20’?
- V__ 5y ago
  That's not the point neither I nor the poster above was making at all.

arcticbull 5y ago

I just looked it up. [edit](An average rocket)[1] emits 300T of CO2 on the round-trip. That's the same as a 777 flying from NYC to LHR round-trip. Except there have been 18 Blue Origin launches and there's 85,000 annual round trips from NYC to LHR alone. It's certainly inefficient and not individually good for the planet, but it's a pricy luxury few can afford, and one that can be easily managed via carbon tax. Refusing to address the 85,000 annual round-trips on just the NYC-LHR corridor because one rich guy ran 18 launches with the same carbon footprint, I mean, I'm sure he's flown his private jet over the Atlantic more than 18 times. Remember, per person, the Blue Origin launch produces as much CO2 as 85 Bitcoin transactions. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jul/19/billionaires-space-tourism-environment-emissions https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jul/19/billionaires...