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It makes the most sense to tackle the easiest biggest wins first. There is limited attention, money, and political capital. Aviation is perhaps the hardest sing

by api 1y ago

It makes the most sense to tackle the easiest biggest wins first. There is limited attention, money, and political capital. Aviation is perhaps the hardest single thing to decarbonize.

paulryanrogers 1y ago
And the biggest consumers of air passenger travel are the rich. They can be incentized to fly less with the stroke of a pen: tax usage. I'm sure the world will keep spinning despite them having only one of two trips to their private island each year. Thankfully we don't have to stop at one thing. Or even limit ourselves to doing one thing at a time.
- api 1y ago
  If you want to argue against inequality, make that argument on its own merit without hijacking climate change and using it as a stalking horse. Climate change is its own problem. Physics doesn’t care what our gini coefficient is. A more equal society that emits too much carbon still has this problem. A decarbonized society powered by renewable and nuclear energy could still have too much inequality.
  - paulryanrogers 1y ago
    Until democracy is fixed I don't think these problems can be disconnected. But I'll admit that even an equal society could barrel toward its own destruction. I just think equal societies are less likely to, because all our livelihoods would be on the line. None could deny the problem and strong arm the government to ignore it--for the short term benefit of the few at the top.
    - api 1y ago
      I think a more equal society would, if it were using fossil fuels, emit more carbon. A more equals society would have fewer people in poverty. It would have more active services for people who need them. All that represents a lower entropy state. Lower entropy states require more external energy input to maintain, not less. Allowing vast numbers of people to rot in squalor while a few rich people live it up is a lower energy higher entropy state. Individual rich people may use crazy amounts of energy but there are not many of them. Bezos’ jet consumes a tiny fraction of the power required to provide continuous modern health care to everyone, for example.

by api 1y ago

It makes the most sense to tackle the easiest biggest wins first. There is limited attention, money, and political capital. Aviation is perhaps the hardest single thing to decarbonize.

paulryanrogers 1y ago

And the biggest consumers of air passenger travel are the rich. They can be incentized to fly less with the stroke of a pen: tax usage. I'm sure the world will keep spinning despite them having only one of two trips to their private island each year. Thankfully we don't have to stop at one thing. Or even limit ourselves to doing one thing at a time.

api 1y ago
If you want to argue against inequality, make that argument on its own merit without hijacking climate change and using it as a stalking horse. Climate change is its own problem. Physics doesn’t care what our gini coefficient is. A more equal society that emits too much carbon still has this problem. A decarbonized society powered by renewable and nuclear energy could still have too much inequality.
- paulryanrogers 1y ago
  Until democracy is fixed I don't think these problems can be disconnected. But I'll admit that even an equal society could barrel toward its own destruction. I just think equal societies are less likely to, because all our livelihoods would be on the line. None could deny the problem and strong arm the government to ignore it--for the short term benefit of the few at the top.
  - api 1y ago
    I think a more equal society would, if it were using fossil fuels, emit more carbon. A more equals society would have fewer people in poverty. It would have more active services for people who need them. All that represents a lower entropy state. Lower entropy states require more external energy input to maintain, not less. Allowing vast numbers of people to rot in squalor while a few rich people live it up is a lower energy higher entropy state. Individual rich people may use crazy amounts of energy but there are not many of them. Bezos’ jet consumes a tiny fraction of the power required to provide continuous modern health care to everyone, for example.