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> US citizens still emit over 50% more CO2 each The problem the US has per-capita is lower population density. The majority of the US population lives in subur

> US citizens still emit over 50% more CO2 each The problem the US has per-capita is lower population density. The majority of the US population lives in suburban or rural areas without mass transit and changing that on the relevant timescale is not feasible. It also has major population centers in areas that experience winter and thereby have higher energy costs for heating, exacerbated by the lower population density (more square feet of indoor space to heat per capita), with the same infeasible timescale for changing that. As a result, the only way to fix it is to switch to other forms of energy rather than having any real hope of significantly reducing consumption in terms of GWh. Use more electric cars and hybrids, generate electricity using solar, wind and nuclear, switch from fossil fuels to electric heat pumps for heating, etc. But that's largely what's happening. The percentage of hybrid vehicles goes up, despite Trump's posturing nobody actually wants coal, ~100% of net new generation capacity in recent years is solar and wind and even when new natural gas plants are built, they're displacing old coal fired ones, which results in a net reduction in CO2. It would be nice if this would happen faster, but at least the number is going in the right direction. The problem China has is that they've been building brand new coal fired power plants at scale. WTF.

bdangubic 8mo ago
You listed out a whole lot of excuses for America, suburbia this, heating that, etc etc, etc... Now an assignment - you are Chinese and you have 1.5bn people in your country, lets hear it? You think you can't reasonably list 100x "excuses" for their "issues" and "reasons" for CO2 consumption? They are working a lot harder than pretty much all other countries combined to usher in renewables and many other things while we elect people who don't know what wind is/does and stare at the Sun during the eclipse.
- AnthonyMouse 8mo ago
  What excuse actually is there for building new coal plants instead of directing the same labor to building more nuclear or renewable generation? There is no reason to build coal, Trump is a schmuck for proposing it but China have been the ones actually doing it.
  - hvb2 8mo ago
    > What excuse actually is there for building new coal plants Just that they're still 'developing' and aren't even close to the historical contributions of the US? Assuming you're American, it's a bit rich to have contributed more in absolute terms and then tell other countries what they can't do. Explain me why the average car in the US is a tank with horrible fuel economy? In rural I can sorta see it. But in cities, why drive a truck? These are all choices that America makes.
    - AnthonyMouse 8mo ago
      > Just that they're still 'developing' and aren't even close to the historical contributions of the US? This is a sham excuse. Building coal power plants before solar or nuclear were viable or even existed is not the same as choosing to do it in modern day. > Explain me why the average car in the US is a tank with horrible fuel economy? The "best selling" light vehicles in the US are pickup trucks because the sales numbers aren't divided out into personal and business purchases and businesses buy a lot of trucks. The best selling non-pickup is the Toyota RAV4, which gets better than 30 MPG in the non-hybrid version and better than 40 MPG in the hybrid version.
      - myrmidon 8mo ago
        Come on. This is bullshit and you know it. There's >10M light trucks sold each year and <3M passenger cars. This is not because most of those trucks are used by some business, this is because people like to drive around in them.
        AnthonyMouse 8mo ago
        The 40+ MPG Hybrid Toyota RAV4 is a "light truck" in those numbers.
      - hvb2 8mo ago
        > This is a sham excuse. Building coal power plants before solar or nuclear were viable or even existed is not the same as choosing to do it in modern day. My friend, they're building the most nuclear and solar in the world... And yes, coal too. The US right now is actively trying to block renewables (at the federal level at least) As to fuel economy, the US is the only country where 40 MPG for a hybrid might be brought up as a win. It's just all big inefficient cars over there. You can look up how much the car industry in the US fights increasing fuel economy standards.
charlie90 8mo ago
Assume the avg. home will last 50 years. Limit construction on new suburban developments, problem solved in 50+ years. It would be unpopular, but you claimed it wouldn't be possible, very different. The latter is denying agency in the situation.
- nostrademons 8mo ago
  We're kinda doing that, through zoning requirements and NIMBY politics. It is, as predicted, very unpopular, and has a number of unfortunate side effects like rising homelessness, declining fertility, and increasing inflation. On the plus side, we're going to have many fewer people in 50 years, which will lead to correspondingly less CO2 emissions.
- AnthonyMouse 8mo ago
  > Assume the avg. home will last 50 years. Limit construction on new suburban developments, problem solved in 50+ years. It would be unpopular, but you claimed it wouldn't be possible, very different. The impossible part of "problem solved in 50+ years" is the 50+ years when you need it to be solved sooner than that, and it can be solved sooner than that by doing something else, namely electrifying heating and transportation and using renewables and nuclear to generate electricity.

bdangubic 8mo ago

You listed out a whole lot of excuses for America, suburbia this, heating that, etc etc, etc... Now an assignment - you are Chinese and you have 1.5bn people in your country, lets hear it? You think you can't reasonably list 100x "excuses" for their "issues" and "reasons" for CO2 consumption? They are working a lot harder than pretty much all other countries combined to usher in renewables and many other things while we elect people who don't know what wind is/does and stare at the Sun during the eclipse.

AnthonyMouse 8mo ago
What excuse actually is there for building new coal plants instead of directing the same labor to building more nuclear or renewable generation? There is no reason to build coal, Trump is a schmuck for proposing it but China have been the ones actually doing it.
- hvb2 8mo ago
  > What excuse actually is there for building new coal plants Just that they're still 'developing' and aren't even close to the historical contributions of the US? Assuming you're American, it's a bit rich to have contributed more in absolute terms and then tell other countries what they can't do. Explain me why the average car in the US is a tank with horrible fuel economy? In rural I can sorta see it. But in cities, why drive a truck? These are all choices that America makes.
  - AnthonyMouse 8mo ago
    > Just that they're still 'developing' and aren't even close to the historical contributions of the US? This is a sham excuse. Building coal power plants before solar or nuclear were viable or even existed is not the same as choosing to do it in modern day. > Explain me why the average car in the US is a tank with horrible fuel economy? The "best selling" light vehicles in the US are pickup trucks because the sales numbers aren't divided out into personal and business purchases and businesses buy a lot of trucks. The best selling non-pickup is the Toyota RAV4, which gets better than 30 MPG in the non-hybrid version and better than 40 MPG in the hybrid version.
    - myrmidon 8mo ago
      Come on. This is bullshit and you know it. There's >10M light trucks sold each year and <3M passenger cars. This is not because most of those trucks are used by some business, this is because people like to drive around in them.
      - AnthonyMouse 8mo ago
        The 40+ MPG Hybrid Toyota RAV4 is a "light truck" in those numbers.
    - hvb2 8mo ago
      > This is a sham excuse. Building coal power plants before solar or nuclear were viable or even existed is not the same as choosing to do it in modern day. My friend, they're building the most nuclear and solar in the world... And yes, coal too. The US right now is actively trying to block renewables (at the federal level at least) As to fuel economy, the US is the only country where 40 MPG for a hybrid might be brought up as a win. It's just all big inefficient cars over there. You can look up how much the car industry in the US fights increasing fuel economy standards.

charlie90 8mo ago

Assume the avg. home will last 50 years. Limit construction on new suburban developments, problem solved in 50+ years. It would be unpopular, but you claimed it wouldn't be possible, very different. The latter is denying agency in the situation.

nostrademons 8mo ago
We're kinda doing that, through zoning requirements and NIMBY politics. It is, as predicted, very unpopular, and has a number of unfortunate side effects like rising homelessness, declining fertility, and increasing inflation. On the plus side, we're going to have many fewer people in 50 years, which will lead to correspondingly less CO2 emissions.
AnthonyMouse 8mo ago
> Assume the avg. home will last 50 years. Limit construction on new suburban developments, problem solved in 50+ years. It would be unpopular, but you claimed it wouldn't be possible, very different. The impossible part of "problem solved in 50+ years" is the 50+ years when you need it to be solved sooner than that, and it can be solved sooner than that by doing something else, namely electrifying heating and transportation and using renewables and nuclear to generate electricity.