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I can identify 20% of global carbon emissions in 8500 coal power plants. Only 8500 plants need to be replaced and we can reduce 20% of emissions. Hey I’ve go

I can identify 20% of global carbon emissions in 8500 coal power plants. Only 8500 plants need to be replaced and we can reduce 20% of emissions. Hey I’ve got a stupid idea. Let’s tell everyone to stop eating meat, replace a billion gas powered cars, drive less and stop flying Let’s rinse and repeat and have this discussion every day for the next decade, just like we have done for the past 2 decades

karmakurtisaani 4y ago
The problem is that many of those coal plants are in China. How are you going to close coal plants in China? However, influencing your meat and dairy consumption is trivial compared to the above.
- melling 4y ago
  The US debt is $32 trillion. Maybe you could pay a few extra dollars in taxes to help bring it down. Seriously, do the math. Doing things that make zero difference doesn’t help. It’s like the drunk looking for his keys under the street light
  - karmakurtisaani 4y ago
    Does the US debt threaten to end the life on earth? Then I'll happily join the movement that aims to bring it down by private action. I know individual action on it's own is not terribly effective. The game plan I see here is that we keep public focus on how bad meat eating is for the environment, and hopefully reach a critical mass in public opinion so that one day it is politically acceptable to reduce the dairy industry subsidies. It takes time, but it is a feasible idea.
matrix_overload 4y ago
The skill we desperately need to teach to the public is prioritization. It only takes 3 steps: 1. Identify what measurable effect you want to achieve (e.g. reduce emissions by X% within Y years). 2. Look for multiple ways to do it. 3. Pick the combination with the best cost/effect ratio. Until this is taught in schools on par with math or basic history, we are extremely prone to manipulation. Whoever owns the media will cover one solution that benefits them, declare it as a religious virtue and fill their pockets off pushing the crowd to adopt it. If may never solve the actual problem, but the public lacking those skills will never notice and will never question the narrative.
- atoav 4y ago
  I am gonna say, priorization is nice and all, but you can have your priorities all figured out and not achive anything because you live in a nation where there is no majority for it and if there was your politicians are incentivised to ignore it. So you do the things you can do. Fly less, eat less/no meat, use your bike more often, point at the coal plants and vote for political parties that want to get rid of them. May later generations (should they exist) say: "He was one of the good ones". Or you know, you could hide behind your priorities, fly, eat meat, drive a SUV and point at the coal plants. I get it, we should not let them blame individuals for corporate and political failure, but what you do yourself also matters, because it makes you more aware, it makes you have higher standards, it makes you less tolerant to weak excuses.
  - matrix_overload 4y ago
    Sorry, it doesn't work like this. The reason politicians are not prioritizing those things is because currently the effects from the climate change are not affecting profits. It's cheaper to do lip service and lip service they do. At some point as things get worse, some actual solutions like biodiesel will start paying off and governments will start adopting it. All you can do by your personal martyrship is delay this point by historically negligible time. But this is not fair to yourself. It's like you have a drunkard neighbor. You know once he runs out of money, he'll sober up, take it seriously, find a job and start rebuilding his life But instead of letting him do it, you sell your own house and keep buy him more booze! Sure, he will be thankful, but it won't solve the problem. You are just fooling yourself by doing the simplest thing that appears to give your life a meaning, but on the grand scale you are just wasting your own life away. SUVs are nice, you can fit multiple kids and hiking gear into them, tow your own speedboat and go to multi-day roadtrips along the coast. So what, I am supposed to give that lifestyle up, reduce my life to eating bad-tasting food in front of a TV so the politicians, who are agreeably bad at their job could take more flights with their private jets? I don't think it's fair. I mean, the politicians would love you do do that, but that's just not fair to yourself.
    - class4behavior 4y ago

karmakurtisaani 4y ago

The problem is that many of those coal plants are in China. How are you going to close coal plants in China? However, influencing your meat and dairy consumption is trivial compared to the above.

melling 4y ago
The US debt is $32 trillion. Maybe you could pay a few extra dollars in taxes to help bring it down. Seriously, do the math. Doing things that make zero difference doesn’t help. It’s like the drunk looking for his keys under the street light
- karmakurtisaani 4y ago
  Does the US debt threaten to end the life on earth? Then I'll happily join the movement that aims to bring it down by private action. I know individual action on it's own is not terribly effective. The game plan I see here is that we keep public focus on how bad meat eating is for the environment, and hopefully reach a critical mass in public opinion so that one day it is politically acceptable to reduce the dairy industry subsidies. It takes time, but it is a feasible idea.

matrix_overload 4y ago

The skill we desperately need to teach to the public is prioritization. It only takes 3 steps: 1. Identify what measurable effect you want to achieve (e.g. reduce emissions by X% within Y years). 2. Look for multiple ways to do it. 3. Pick the combination with the best cost/effect ratio. Until this is taught in schools on par with math or basic history, we are extremely prone to manipulation. Whoever owns the media will cover one solution that benefits them, declare it as a religious virtue and fill their pockets off pushing the crowd to adopt it. If may never solve the actual problem, but the public lacking those skills will never notice and will never question the narrative.

atoav 4y ago
I am gonna say, priorization is nice and all, but you can have your priorities all figured out and not achive anything because you live in a nation where there is no majority for it and if there was your politicians are incentivised to ignore it. So you do the things you can do. Fly less, eat less/no meat, use your bike more often, point at the coal plants and vote for political parties that want to get rid of them. May later generations (should they exist) say: "He was one of the good ones". Or you know, you could hide behind your priorities, fly, eat meat, drive a SUV and point at the coal plants. I get it, we should not let them blame individuals for corporate and political failure, but what you do yourself also matters, because it makes you more aware, it makes you have higher standards, it makes you less tolerant to weak excuses.
- matrix_overload 4y ago
  Sorry, it doesn't work like this. The reason politicians are not prioritizing those things is because currently the effects from the climate change are not affecting profits. It's cheaper to do lip service and lip service they do. At some point as things get worse, some actual solutions like biodiesel will start paying off and governments will start adopting it. All you can do by your personal martyrship is delay this point by historically negligible time. But this is not fair to yourself. It's like you have a drunkard neighbor. You know once he runs out of money, he'll sober up, take it seriously, find a job and start rebuilding his life But instead of letting him do it, you sell your own house and keep buy him more booze! Sure, he will be thankful, but it won't solve the problem. You are just fooling yourself by doing the simplest thing that appears to give your life a meaning, but on the grand scale you are just wasting your own life away. SUVs are nice, you can fit multiple kids and hiking gear into them, tow your own speedboat and go to multi-day roadtrips along the coast. So what, I am supposed to give that lifestyle up, reduce my life to eating bad-tasting food in front of a TV so the politicians, who are agreeably bad at their job could take more flights with their private jets? I don't think it's fair. I mean, the politicians would love you do do that, but that's just not fair to yourself.
  - class4behavior 4y ago