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After taking the time to educate myself on the topic, I am far more concerned about climate change than any other one issue. At this point, I am pretty much a s

After taking the time to educate myself on the topic, I am far more concerned about climate change than any other one issue. At this point, I am pretty much a single issue voter for any political candidate that takes it seriously. In the short term, it will cause incomprehensible amounts of human suffering and economic damage. In the long term, it's an existential threat to humanity.

proc0 4y ago
The problem is no politician has real solutions in this area. I think the reason is because climate change is blamed on individual behavior, rather than the fact that in current year our entire civilization is consuming more and more power and that is probably not going to decrease (at least not around the world). Whatever change is made as individuals only shifts the power consumption to a different sector, and of course the push for more EVs will only continue to stress the grid. Until we solve the power consumption of our entire civilization, there are only two potential outcomes: everyone abandons the comforts of modernity, using less power, which means less products, less innovations, less technology, etc... or only part of the world does that, which means the gap between rich and poor will grow to sci-fi dystopian levels. The only solution on the horizon for everyone is nuclear fission or fusion.
- lordswork 4y ago
  >The problem is no politician has real solutions in this area. I disagree. Policy changes are one necessary piece of puzzle in addition to innovation and investments. Hopefully the policies in the Inflation Reduction Act recently passed in the US are just the start of this. >I think the reason is because climate change is blamed on individual behavior, rather than the fact that in current year our entire civilization is consuming more and more power and that is probably not going to decrease Yes, that is a narrative that is being pushed hard by fossil fuel industry. Indeed, the total energy consumption of the world is going to skyrocket as developing nations improve their infrastructure and quality of life of their citizens. There's no silver bullet. We need to aim to reduce overall energy consumption in developed nations, but also aim to make 100% of that energy consumption carbon-free. > The only solution on the horizon for everyone is nuclear fission or fusion. There is no "one solution" to climate change. It's a complex topic, which makes it difficult to discuss online. Nuclear fission is a great medium-term investment, but investments started today, won't be quick enough to halve emissions by 2030 and level off emissions by 2050. We will need to throw everything we can at the problem, including solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal. Fusion is the closest thing we have to a "one solution to climate change", but it's too far off to have a chance of making meaningful impact before we face catastrophic damage. We should continue to invest in it, of course, but it's a huge gamble to depend solely on it.

proc0 4y ago

The problem is no politician has real solutions in this area. I think the reason is because climate change is blamed on individual behavior, rather than the fact that in current year our entire civilization is consuming more and more power and that is probably not going to decrease (at least not around the world). Whatever change is made as individuals only shifts the power consumption to a different sector, and of course the push for more EVs will only continue to stress the grid. Until we solve the power consumption of our entire civilization, there are only two potential outcomes: everyone abandons the comforts of modernity, using less power, which means less products, less innovations, less technology, etc... or only part of the world does that, which means the gap between rich and poor will grow to sci-fi dystopian levels. The only solution on the horizon for everyone is nuclear fission or fusion.

lordswork 4y ago
>The problem is no politician has real solutions in this area. I disagree. Policy changes are one necessary piece of puzzle in addition to innovation and investments. Hopefully the policies in the Inflation Reduction Act recently passed in the US are just the start of this. >I think the reason is because climate change is blamed on individual behavior, rather than the fact that in current year our entire civilization is consuming more and more power and that is probably not going to decrease Yes, that is a narrative that is being pushed hard by fossil fuel industry. Indeed, the total energy consumption of the world is going to skyrocket as developing nations improve their infrastructure and quality of life of their citizens. There's no silver bullet. We need to aim to reduce overall energy consumption in developed nations, but also aim to make 100% of that energy consumption carbon-free. > The only solution on the horizon for everyone is nuclear fission or fusion. There is no "one solution" to climate change. It's a complex topic, which makes it difficult to discuss online. Nuclear fission is a great medium-term investment, but investments started today, won't be quick enough to halve emissions by 2030 and level off emissions by 2050. We will need to throw everything we can at the problem, including solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal. Fusion is the closest thing we have to a "one solution to climate change", but it's too far off to have a chance of making meaningful impact before we face catastrophic damage. We should continue to invest in it, of course, but it's a huge gamble to depend solely on it.