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> If anyone out there is feeling a bit down about the general state of the tech industry, I highly encourage you to look into jobs in the green energy field. It

> If anyone out there is feeling a bit down about the general state of the tech industry, I highly encourage you to look into jobs in the green energy field. It's an exciting space filled with lots of passionate, mission-driven folks. (And, in case you're wondering, most of us aren't the neurotic, perpetually angry types that dominate the activist space. We're pretty chill people who just want a healthy and affordable planet.) I’d second this - I’m not in green energy, but I am in a field that looks to have a substantially positive climate/environmental impact. If you’re feeling particularly existential about the world right now, there’s a real sense of relief from knowing your work is aligned with your values and where you want the world to go.

rmvt 4y ago
i'd love to have your optimism. whenever i looked at the job market in this area ("green" tech) most, if not all, of what i found was around carbon offsetting, which is something that has failed to convince me so far
- thelazyone 4y ago
  Agreed. Definitely not a bad kind of business for the planet, but more linked with regulations and bylaws than with actual technological advancement.
- ZeroGravitas 4y ago
  Carbon offsetting is needlessly and cynically attacked by the same people who talk about wind power killing birds or not recycling the blades. Yes, it's not a perfect unicorn magic solution, but the basic idea of putting a price on carbon and letting the genuinely hard to decarbonise sectors pay for the low hanging fruit in other areas is deeply powerful. If you think that market forces are a powerful tool, then carbon offsets are a similar thing. In many ways it's "effective altruism" for carbon (though that movement is under a bit of a cloud lately).
  - kenniskrag 4y ago
    I see a danger that poor countries can't pay this price and fail to develop. And I hope someone gets the money of this carbon certs and does something to reduce the impact?
    - ZeroGravitas 4y ago
      Poor countries are more likely to find their transition to clean energy being funded by rich countries paying carbon fees and looking for impactful ways to cut carbon. Less carbon, more green energy, everyone is happy. It's insisting that rich people can't offset that leaves both the rich and the poor (both between and within countries) worse off, as in other situations without market pricing to allow trade.
  - geewee 4y ago
    Unfortunately while carbon offsetting might in theory be effective, in practice they've been proven to be.. terrible. E.g. see here, where 90% of carbon offsets turned out to just be offsets on paper. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/revealed-forest-carbon-offsets-biggest-provider-worthless-verra-aoe https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/revealed...
    - ZeroGravitas 4y ago
      That's one type of offset, by one provider. And others dispute the 90% figure since in the study it 10% that are rated good and only a third "useless" (for carbon, they may have biodiversity co-benefits). So yeah, not magic, just a boring bit of economics that lets people work together efficiently via a market based process, with the chance of waste and graft that entails if not regulated well.
      - robertlagrant 4y ago
        "Not regulated well" is almost guaranteed when it's an invented market. There are bound to be infinite loopholes, as people aren't good at creating markets with no missing or unintended consequences.

rmvt 4y ago

i'd love to have your optimism. whenever i looked at the job market in this area ("green" tech) most, if not all, of what i found was around carbon offsetting, which is something that has failed to convince me so far

thelazyone 4y ago
Agreed. Definitely not a bad kind of business for the planet, but more linked with regulations and bylaws than with actual technological advancement.
ZeroGravitas 4y ago
Carbon offsetting is needlessly and cynically attacked by the same people who talk about wind power killing birds or not recycling the blades. Yes, it's not a perfect unicorn magic solution, but the basic idea of putting a price on carbon and letting the genuinely hard to decarbonise sectors pay for the low hanging fruit in other areas is deeply powerful. If you think that market forces are a powerful tool, then carbon offsets are a similar thing. In many ways it's "effective altruism" for carbon (though that movement is under a bit of a cloud lately).
- kenniskrag 4y ago
  I see a danger that poor countries can't pay this price and fail to develop. And I hope someone gets the money of this carbon certs and does something to reduce the impact?
  - ZeroGravitas 4y ago
    Poor countries are more likely to find their transition to clean energy being funded by rich countries paying carbon fees and looking for impactful ways to cut carbon. Less carbon, more green energy, everyone is happy. It's insisting that rich people can't offset that leaves both the rich and the poor (both between and within countries) worse off, as in other situations without market pricing to allow trade.
- geewee 4y ago
  Unfortunately while carbon offsetting might in theory be effective, in practice they've been proven to be.. terrible. E.g. see here, where 90% of carbon offsets turned out to just be offsets on paper. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/revealed-forest-carbon-offsets-biggest-provider-worthless-verra-aoe https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/revealed...
  - ZeroGravitas 4y ago
    That's one type of offset, by one provider. And others dispute the 90% figure since in the study it 10% that are rated good and only a third "useless" (for carbon, they may have biodiversity co-benefits). So yeah, not magic, just a boring bit of economics that lets people work together efficiently via a market based process, with the chance of waste and graft that entails if not regulated well.
    - robertlagrant 4y ago
      "Not regulated well" is almost guaranteed when it's an invented market. There are bound to be infinite loopholes, as people aren't good at creating markets with no missing or unintended consequences.