4 ms·

Interesting that you focus on the consumer side over the production side to blame. And what drives culture shifts?

slothtrop 3y ago
Consumers respond to incentives. I wouldn't "blame" them either, but I would expect consumer behavior to adjust to taxes or revoking subsidies for certain goods. If it were down to wagging a finger, yeah, that's for the birds. The only thing that serves is feeding the clickbait money machine inflaming a culture war. We already know that if some alternatives are on the market (electric vehicles, plant-based boxed crap), people will buy them. A large percentage of consumers buys plant-based products despite not being vegan or caring to be.
- wahnfrieden 3y ago
  Consumer purchasing shifting toward more correct purchases isn’t a solution at all. Your examples are essentially luxury market items that don’t scale to humanity with questionable net impact
  - slothtrop 3y ago
    Not really. Vehicles are a large part of the Western fabric for example, and the popularity of SUVs in the recent decades have led to an uptick in emissions - therefore, disincentivizing SUVs is one option. Governments are already rolling out solutions like "greener home" grants, that offers rebates for improving insulation. If scaled across a country, lower use of AC/heating can have a significant impact on energy demands, and it was an easy program to implement. Food waste is another angle that is a no-brainer. In the food department, legumes and whole grains are not "luxury" items, but can serve as a substitute for meat. Even omnivores (I am one) who are health-conscious tend now to make a point to include more of these in their diet, and they're cheap. Bearing in mind that these interventions are meant for short-run downward pressure on emissions (in the West), and short-run interventions are what we need. There is low-hanging fruit still, which can be exploited without dampening quality of life and without "mandates". In the long-run it's all a moot point, between nuclear/fusion and renewables. There is also a ton of public/private investment into carbon capture, renewables, the works - but that is not moving quickly, even though this would be the most valuable.

Consumers respond to incentives. I wouldn't "blame" them either, but I would expect consumer behavior to adjust to taxes or revoking subsidies for certain goods. If it were down to wagging a finger, yeah, that's for the birds. The only thing that serves is feeding the clickbait money machine inflaming a culture war. We already know that if some alternatives are on the market (electric vehicles, plant-based boxed crap), people will buy them. A large percentage of consumers buys plant-based products despite not being vegan or caring to be.

wahnfrieden 3y ago
Consumer purchasing shifting toward more correct purchases isn’t a solution at all. Your examples are essentially luxury market items that don’t scale to humanity with questionable net impact
- slothtrop 3y ago
  Not really. Vehicles are a large part of the Western fabric for example, and the popularity of SUVs in the recent decades have led to an uptick in emissions - therefore, disincentivizing SUVs is one option. Governments are already rolling out solutions like "greener home" grants, that offers rebates for improving insulation. If scaled across a country, lower use of AC/heating can have a significant impact on energy demands, and it was an easy program to implement. Food waste is another angle that is a no-brainer. In the food department, legumes and whole grains are not "luxury" items, but can serve as a substitute for meat. Even omnivores (I am one) who are health-conscious tend now to make a point to include more of these in their diet, and they're cheap. Bearing in mind that these interventions are meant for short-run downward pressure on emissions (in the West), and short-run interventions are what we need. There is low-hanging fruit still, which can be exploited without dampening quality of life and without "mandates". In the long-run it's all a moot point, between nuclear/fusion and renewables. There is also a ton of public/private investment into carbon capture, renewables, the works - but that is not moving quickly, even though this would be the most valuable.