4 ms·

> Worried about climate change? In the 1980s it was nuclear war. Nuclear war didn't happen. Climate change is happening. Pretty key difference!

david-gpu 2y ago
If nuclear war happened, and there was no way for us to know whether it would happen, there was nothing we could do to survive the event. While climate change is happening, there is still a lot we can do to slow it down and mitigate its effects, both individually and collectively.
- SoftTalker 2y ago
  Yes, at the time it seemed like something that might happen tomorrow. You had TV movies like "The Day After" and constant discussion of it in school and in the media. It was a real fear.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - card_zero 2y ago
    Ingmar Bergman's Winter Light (1963) has somebody in Sweden becoming depressed and withdrawn due to anxiety over China developing an atomic bomb. Then in 1982 Prince sang "everybody's got the bomb, we could all die any day". That's two decades of continual anxiety about sudden obliteration (or worse, near obliteration).
    - underlipton 2y ago
      When did Reagan take Carter's solar panels off the White House roof, again?
      - card_zero 2y ago
        I don't get it. The answer seems to be 1986. What do you mean?
        underlipton 2y ago
        That climate anxiety has existed at least as long.
        jhbadger 2y ago
        The solar panels (and the famous sweater Carter wore when turning down the White House thermostat in winter) wasn't done out of climate anxiety though. This was done because of the oil crisis (at the time the US was more dependent than now on Mideast oil and their organization OPEC raised the price dramatically leading to shortages in the US).
        underlipton 2y ago
        Again, that doesn't tell the whole story. As we've discussed, solar research predates the episode by quite a long time, and Carter's efforts were not just about the energy crisis, but also about setting the foundation for future pro-environmental efforts (which were not necessarily about climate change at the time, but that certainly bled into those concerns later on). Your characterization seems to try to make Reagan's later actions seem more rational, when they very well may not have been based on anything but his disdain for his predecessor and his policies. We don't really know. https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2008/11/jimmy-carters-solar-panels/ https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2008/11/jimmy-carters-sol...
      - jhbadger 2y ago
        The solar panels that Carter installed were nearly useless, given poor 1970s technology. It was performative, showing that he was interested in doing something to handle the oil crisis, even if it was futile. And Regan's removal of them was likewise performative, signaling that there no longer was an oil crisis.
- AlecSchueler 2y ago
  > While climate change is happening, there is still a lot we can do to slow it down and mitigate its effects Not to disagree with your general point but one of the most frustrating things about climate change is knowing how much we could do, while seeing how little hope we actually have of making those changes.
- bluescrn 2y ago
  Rich Americans can buy a Tesla, solar panels, heat pump and give up meat, and feel like they’re making a difference. But there’s several billion people without those options. Who’d all love to consume like rich Americans if they had the chance.
- imtringued 2y ago
  That nuclear war deal sounds way too good. Can't do anything about it? Well you don't have to worry then, since the inverse is also true. I.e. you don't have to do anything. The thing is, it is not about what you can do, it is about what you must do. Emphasis on must. You must, but you don't, hence the guilt.

david-gpu 2y ago

If nuclear war happened, and there was no way for us to know whether it would happen, there was nothing we could do to survive the event. While climate change is happening, there is still a lot we can do to slow it down and mitigate its effects, both individually and collectively.

SoftTalker 2y ago
Yes, at the time it seemed like something that might happen tomorrow. You had TV movies like "The Day After" and constant discussion of it in school and in the media. It was a real fear.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- card_zero 2y ago
  Ingmar Bergman's Winter Light (1963) has somebody in Sweden becoming depressed and withdrawn due to anxiety over China developing an atomic bomb. Then in 1982 Prince sang "everybody's got the bomb, we could all die any day". That's two decades of continual anxiety about sudden obliteration (or worse, near obliteration).
  - underlipton 2y ago
    When did Reagan take Carter's solar panels off the White House roof, again?
    - card_zero 2y ago
      I don't get it. The answer seems to be 1986. What do you mean?
      - underlipton 2y ago
        That climate anxiety has existed at least as long.
        jhbadger 2y ago
        The solar panels (and the famous sweater Carter wore when turning down the White House thermostat in winter) wasn't done out of climate anxiety though. This was done because of the oil crisis (at the time the US was more dependent than now on Mideast oil and their organization OPEC raised the price dramatically leading to shortages in the US).
        underlipton 2y ago
        Again, that doesn't tell the whole story. As we've discussed, solar research predates the episode by quite a long time, and Carter's efforts were not just about the energy crisis, but also about setting the foundation for future pro-environmental efforts (which were not necessarily about climate change at the time, but that certainly bled into those concerns later on). Your characterization seems to try to make Reagan's later actions seem more rational, when they very well may not have been based on anything but his disdain for his predecessor and his policies. We don't really know. https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2008/11/jimmy-carters-solar-panels/ https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2008/11/jimmy-carters-sol...
    - jhbadger 2y ago
      The solar panels that Carter installed were nearly useless, given poor 1970s technology. It was performative, showing that he was interested in doing something to handle the oil crisis, even if it was futile. And Regan's removal of them was likewise performative, signaling that there no longer was an oil crisis.
AlecSchueler 2y ago
> While climate change is happening, there is still a lot we can do to slow it down and mitigate its effects Not to disagree with your general point but one of the most frustrating things about climate change is knowing how much we could do, while seeing how little hope we actually have of making those changes.
bluescrn 2y ago
Rich Americans can buy a Tesla, solar panels, heat pump and give up meat, and feel like they’re making a difference. But there’s several billion people without those options. Who’d all love to consume like rich Americans if they had the chance.
imtringued 2y ago
That nuclear war deal sounds way too good. Can't do anything about it? Well you don't have to worry then, since the inverse is also true. I.e. you don't have to do anything. The thing is, it is not about what you can do, it is about what you must do. Emphasis on must. You must, but you don't, hence the guilt.