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> couldn't bring myself to book a ticket to Europe because it felt wasteful to spend so much money and carbon just for sight seeing. Regarding the carbon, than

by voisin 3y ago

> couldn't bring myself to book a ticket to Europe because it felt wasteful to spend so much money and carbon just for sight seeing. Regarding the carbon, thank you. I cannot fathom why so many people still act as if there are no costs beyond the dollar value and consequently don’t feel any guilt whatsoever about the externalities stemming from unnecessary flights.

maxdoop 3y ago
How do you honestly function in day-to-day life with such a mindset? Should I forgo my modern living entirely because of my carbon footprint? Where do you draw the line?
- voisin 3y ago
  One of the filters in my decision making is what the impact is on climate change and then I have to assess whether it is subjectively “worth it” given that impact. I haven’t found that it causes me to forgo modern living. As another commenter pointed out, international flight is reserved for a very small portion of the population. I’ve installed solar panels, electrified my home to avoid natural gas, I generally don’t eat meat or other animal products (perhaps the largest single act of low carbon lifestyle), and drive fewer than 7k km per year. I don’t feel deprived at all. What’s shocking to me is that with the forest fires and smoke filled air, more people aren’t doing the same thing, but I guess that’s the tragedy of the commons.
iLoveOncall 3y ago
Air travel is 2% of global emissions. It's a drop in the bucket.
- BiteCode_dev 3y ago
  2% is huge at that scale.
  - saalweachter 3y ago
    "There are no silver bullets."
- voisin 3y ago
  So we should only tackle the things that are what? 10%? 50%? This mentality is why we are doomed. So long as every individual item is small we tackle nothing.
nerdawson 3y ago
If your solution involves expecting a significant portion of the population to forego the things they enjoy, it’s doomed to failure. No matter how much you’re willing to sacrifice personally, most others won’t and even if they did, the problem still exists. I travel by plane and I don’t feel the least bit guilty.

by voisin 3y ago

maxdoop 3y ago

How do you honestly function in day-to-day life with such a mindset? Should I forgo my modern living entirely because of my carbon footprint? Where do you draw the line?

voisin 3y ago
One of the filters in my decision making is what the impact is on climate change and then I have to assess whether it is subjectively “worth it” given that impact. I haven’t found that it causes me to forgo modern living. As another commenter pointed out, international flight is reserved for a very small portion of the population. I’ve installed solar panels, electrified my home to avoid natural gas, I generally don’t eat meat or other animal products (perhaps the largest single act of low carbon lifestyle), and drive fewer than 7k km per year. I don’t feel deprived at all. What’s shocking to me is that with the forest fires and smoke filled air, more people aren’t doing the same thing, but I guess that’s the tragedy of the commons.

iLoveOncall 3y ago

Air travel is 2% of global emissions. It's a drop in the bucket.

BiteCode_dev 3y ago
2% is huge at that scale.
- saalweachter 3y ago
  "There are no silver bullets."
voisin 3y ago
So we should only tackle the things that are what? 10%? 50%? This mentality is why we are doomed. So long as every individual item is small we tackle nothing.

nerdawson 3y ago

If your solution involves expecting a significant portion of the population to forego the things they enjoy, it’s doomed to failure. No matter how much you’re willing to sacrifice personally, most others won’t and even if they did, the problem still exists. I travel by plane and I don’t feel the least bit guilty.