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It'd be a lot more simple, and faster, for us to just stop releasing so much carbon into the atmosphere if we really cared. The idea that we can invent our way
by _heimdall 2y ago
It'd be a lot more simple, and faster, for us to just stop releasing so much carbon into the atmosphere if we really cared.
The idea that we can invent our way into a scenario where we can have our cake and eat it too is just a lie that kicks the can down the road. How likely does it really seem that we will find a solution in which we can continue to use more and more natural resources but magically make all the negative externalities suddenly disappear? And is that likelihood more realistic or reasonable than just stopping creating the damage as much as possible?
- enragedcacti 2y agoWe could of course use more willingness to sacrifice luxuries but "just stop releasing so much carbon" isn't the solution because emissions is just one part of the optimization problem. The entire global economy is the engine that will produce alternatives to fossil fuels despite it running on fossil fuels. There are obvious cases where carbon is worth emitting e.g. Concrete for a nuclear power plant, Diesel trucks to deliver solar panels, smelting steel for train tracks. Barring turning everything off tomorrow at astronomical human cost, there is some optimal amount of emissions and if used effectively Carbon Capture/Storage (primarily point source) could shift the Pareto front in the right direction.