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I'm not sure if you are agreeing with the point you are responding to or contesting it. These positive developments have a large technological component to them
by philipkglass 5y ago
I'm not sure if you are agreeing with the point you are responding to or contesting it. These positive developments have a large technological component to them. Adopting new and improved technologies didn't make people worse off. People got the same amount of light from LED bulbs while reducing the consumption of electricity by 75%. A purely behavioral approach to the lighting problem would mean something more like "everyone still uses incandescent bulbs, but for 75% fewer hours per year." That actually makes people worse off and has much worse prospects for widespread adoption.
- acdha 5y agoBoth: most of these technologies had substantial R&D investments by the government and significant encouragement for adoptions. A lot of people think things like CFCs or acid rain were overblown because the major governments of the world acted promptly, and I think that's a message we'll need a lot this century.