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> not when there are billions of people in China, India, and Africa who dream of living like people in Texas. You've got that right, but the solution isn't to

> not when there are billions of people in China, India, and Africa who dream of living like people in Texas. You've got that right, but the solution isn't to dump money into DAC. It's to convince people in Texas that they need to be living more like people in China, India, and Africa. But it's not politically feasible to tell people they have to make sacrifices.

JamesBarney 4y ago
"We should to convince a bunch of people we are certain are unconvinceable" doesn't really sound like a solution to me at all.
- Paul-Craft 4y ago
  It doesn't matter what it sounds like. It's literally the only solution. Western standards of living will, and must decline over the next several decades, either to mitigate climate change or because we've just made it so much worse.
  - JamesBarney 4y ago
    I don't know what makes you think that's the only solution? You're not going to convince 7 billion people to live like the Amish. We're more likely to colonize another world than for that to happen.
    - Paul-Craft 4y ago
      You got a better idea?
      - loeg 4y ago
        Direct Air Capture is a much better idea than Malthusianism.
rayiner 4y ago
The people in China, India, and Africa don’t want to be living the way they do either. What are you going to do about them?
- Paul-Craft 4y ago
  "I'm" not going to be doing anything. The facts are, we can't consume like Americans do now, globally, on a per capita basis and expect to have a future as a species. What would you propose? Your choices are essentially a massive, global reduction in consumption, or having many fewer people on the Earth. You might think there's a third choice ("massive increases in energy efficiency"), but you have to show me that we can do those things in time, based on current technology, in order to convince me it's a viable option.
  - loeg 4y ago
    > The facts are, we can't consume like Americans do now, globally, on a per capita basis and expect to have a future as a species. This is absolutely not a fact. We can't consume carbon at the per-capita rate we do now.

JamesBarney 4y ago

"We should to convince a bunch of people we are certain are unconvinceable" doesn't really sound like a solution to me at all.

Paul-Craft 4y ago
It doesn't matter what it sounds like. It's literally the only solution. Western standards of living will, and must decline over the next several decades, either to mitigate climate change or because we've just made it so much worse.
- JamesBarney 4y ago
  I don't know what makes you think that's the only solution? You're not going to convince 7 billion people to live like the Amish. We're more likely to colonize another world than for that to happen.
  - Paul-Craft 4y ago
    You got a better idea?
    - loeg 4y ago
      Direct Air Capture is a much better idea than Malthusianism.

rayiner 4y ago

The people in China, India, and Africa don’t want to be living the way they do either. What are you going to do about them?

Paul-Craft 4y ago
"I'm" not going to be doing anything. The facts are, we can't consume like Americans do now, globally, on a per capita basis and expect to have a future as a species. What would you propose? Your choices are essentially a massive, global reduction in consumption, or having many fewer people on the Earth. You might think there's a third choice ("massive increases in energy efficiency"), but you have to show me that we can do those things in time, based on current technology, in order to convince me it's a viable option.
- loeg 4y ago
  > The facts are, we can't consume like Americans do now, globally, on a per capita basis and expect to have a future as a species. This is absolutely not a fact. We can't consume carbon at the per-capita rate we do now.