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Because you are a pessimist? Even if it only half works, it is worthwhile, which is why lots of anti-climate change action is worthwhile. Add up all the little

Because you are a pessimist? Even if it only half works, it is worthwhile, which is why lots of anti-climate change action is worthwhile. Add up all the little bits and maybe it delays catastrophic climiate change long enough to get some new ways of solving it, or long enough for a younger generation to take it more seriously, maybe it makes the rise in temperatures slightly more bearable, the sea rises slightly less or the species extinctions fewer in number. Certainly a better investment than the 4x4s, overseas holidays and technology that lots of rich people spend their money on!

switchbak 4y ago
Or maybe all the straw banning and feel good recycling efforts (and similar efforts with little actual impact on CO2) consume our energy and attention and allow us to feel good about doing something. Meanwhile we've not made any significant headway in tackling the problem, and things continue to get worse. If we want to solve this, we're going to have to have sustained focus and effort devoted to solving the hard problems. That means regulation, international cooperation, changes in how we live our lives, impact on corporations, etc. There is no easy way out of this.
- tomtheelder 4y ago
  FWIW straw bans and recycling are typically not really about carbon at all, more about the impact of waste. Recycling can sometimes have a meaningful carbon impact, but it can also be carbon positive in many cases. But I really dislike the attitude of "well this thing isn't going to solve climate change, and the real problem is industry/agriculture/government/etc, so we shouldn't bother doing it." Of course we should. We should all try to make incremental changes to respect the environment more. It's just lazy reasoning to try to justify continuing to live a lifestyle that damages the environment without having to question it.
  - switchbak 4y ago
    I'm not sure if you think that's what I'm proposing, my last sentence makes it clear I'm not. I'm a fan of recycling and basically any other well intentioned goals. I'm not a fan of them when they're cynically abused by big corporations to make people feel as if they're "saving the world" so they can go on living a life that continues to push us over the edge.

switchbak 4y ago

Or maybe all the straw banning and feel good recycling efforts (and similar efforts with little actual impact on CO2) consume our energy and attention and allow us to feel good about doing something. Meanwhile we've not made any significant headway in tackling the problem, and things continue to get worse. If we want to solve this, we're going to have to have sustained focus and effort devoted to solving the hard problems. That means regulation, international cooperation, changes in how we live our lives, impact on corporations, etc. There is no easy way out of this.

tomtheelder 4y ago
FWIW straw bans and recycling are typically not really about carbon at all, more about the impact of waste. Recycling can sometimes have a meaningful carbon impact, but it can also be carbon positive in many cases. But I really dislike the attitude of "well this thing isn't going to solve climate change, and the real problem is industry/agriculture/government/etc, so we shouldn't bother doing it." Of course we should. We should all try to make incremental changes to respect the environment more. It's just lazy reasoning to try to justify continuing to live a lifestyle that damages the environment without having to question it.
- switchbak 4y ago
  I'm not sure if you think that's what I'm proposing, my last sentence makes it clear I'm not. I'm a fan of recycling and basically any other well intentioned goals. I'm not a fan of them when they're cynically abused by big corporations to make people feel as if they're "saving the world" so they can go on living a life that continues to push us over the edge.