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A simple back of the envelope calculation shows that Felix causes between 70 and 110 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year just from flying. Paris accord says 1.5t
by lejalv 7mo ago
A simple back of the envelope calculation shows that Felix causes between 70 and 110 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year just from flying.
Paris accord says 1.5t per person per year, from all activities, Felix's flying alonre is ~10-15x current European yearly per person emissions and ~50-75x those compatible with +1.5C.
- glemmaPaul 7mo agoyeah America treats flying as like taking a bus, so I am not at all surprised
- andsoitis 7mo ago> yeah America treats flying as like taking a bus, so I am not at all surprised What does this have to do with Felix?
- deleted 7mo ago[deleted]
- drstewart 7mo agoExactly, you'd never see any airlines get popular in Europe on the back of fares costing less than a bus ticket Unrelated link: https://xcancel.com/Ryanair/status/776292730179682304 https://xcancel.com/Ryanair/status/776292730179682304
- alex_duf 7mo agoExactly, I stopped reading when I saw the flying stats. There are people who still haven't clocked where our climate is headed. I get that you may have to see family abroad or maybe indulge for a holiday, but this is "I'm using an airplane to commute" kind of level. And here I am trying to book my train tickets to go to London instead of flying even though it costs three times as much just to avoid a few kg of CO2 (among other things), it's making me angry.
- criddell 7mo ago> And here I am ... Reminds me of the soggy straw memes floating around now. I've been having those why bother? thoughts as well.
- gnfargbl 7mo agoEh, other people throw litter on the floor and rob elderly folks in their homes. Those people hardly ever get caught, but neither you nor I are are going to start copying their actions.
- vladms 7mo agoDepends where you take the train to London, it is a much nicer experience anyhow than going to airports and people should consider that as well (ignoring climate stuff)! On the price, the very annoying thing is that fuel for planes is not taxed! Changing this would require quite some effort (falls under some specific laws, that are old and nobody wants to touch, etc.) but I think everybody should just ask "honest tax on fuels!" as this will make less people say (or thin) "but climate change is a hoax". Planes are just unfair competition to other transport due to taxes!
- zbentley 7mo agoI agree re: fuel taxes, but it’s a complete nonstarter: passengers would be voting against their wallets, and airlines would lobby against it since it’s a vote against their business model.
- gardenhedge 7mo agoIsn't this a drop in the ocean? Why would any 'normal' person forgo flying? How much CO2 emissions have 'world leaders' produced going to summits, or Taylor Swift and her fans flaying to concerts or war flights?
- fxwin 7mo agoWhy do anything for the greater good at all then? (Also there's a big gap between "forgo flying" and "fly every 2 weeks for 7 years")
- gardenhedge 7mo agoBut there is no greater good if you don't fly and Taylor Swift (etc) still does. You're just disadvantaging your own life for no reason.
- mmooss 7mo agoEverything any one person does is a 'drop in the ocean'. Thankfully, we organize and do things collectively very well - it's in our fundamental nature going back to non-human ancestors, and there is a long, rich history of how much we accomplish. Alsmost nothing that has ever been accomplished has been done without a lot of people doing it together.
- Arn_Thor 7mo agoCouple of things: 1) NO ONE is suggesting any one forego flying altogether, or skipping their once-a-year overseas vacation or periodic family visit. 2) THIS level of flying is not normal and is exactly the kind of harmful behavior people have in mind when they complain about frequent flyers. 3) Whinging about summits and Taylor Swift is just a bad faith red herring argument. Obviously less flying is better, no matter by who. To the extent it's related to the topic at all, it bolsters the case for less air travel.
- BeetleB 7mo ago28 flights per year. That's 14 round trip flights. A little over once a month. Not at all surprising if once a month. Or divorced and kid is in another state. If we're generous and assume each trip is actually 2 flights (i.e. connecting flights), then it's 7 per year. Yeah, more than typical. But not insane.
- carlosjobim 7mo ago[flagged]
- singron 7mo agoThere is a section comparing flight emissions to US citizen average total emissions. This might make him feel good, but only 30% of an average American's emissions come from transportation and just a sliver from flying, so it's very likely his total emissions are much higher.
- necovek 7mo agoI believe you misunderstand what "average" is: Americans (or people in general), on average, do not fly much. Some — eg. those who've moved for work — probably fly 10-15x the average, and 10-15x of people fly 1/100th of average. Flying cost and availability correlate with average needs, but that presupposes that some people have higher needs altogether.
- crazygringo 7mo agoIf you want to reduce air travel for environmental reasons, then tax it more. Shaming individuals doesn't seem to be productive or helpful. Air travel works for people if the benefits outweigh the costs. The only thing that changes behavior is to change the costs. And even if costs were 10x there are still plenty of people who will fly tons, because it would still be economically productive. There are always going to be people who fly 10x more than others, because certain jobs and roles simply require it.
- gnfargbl 7mo ago> Shaming individuals doesn't seem to be productive or helpful. I don't see how much support from history for that viewpoint. Some examples of positive societal change driven in part by shaming individuals: drink-driving, civil rights, sexual harassment, automobile safety, the slave trade, McCarthyism.
- eightys3v3n 7mo agoAll those cases also have huge penalties or effective costs associated with them. Is there an accurate "shame first, then penalties came later" stand point? Automobile safety in my life has only changed after fines. Sexual harrassment still happens and doesn't seem to be helped by shaming someone as much as firing them. Though we often don't have the guts or legal backing to publically shame someone.
- lostlogin 7mo ago> drink-driving, civil rights, sexual harassment, automobile safety, the slave trade, McCarthyism. This hasn’t been a good few years for your examples.
- lukakopajtic 7mo agoYou wrote one of the solutions as if it conflicts with the other one. Let's raise the tax on an activity according to its negative side effects, while pointing out individuals that do a lot of it and dont take personal responsibility.
- dansmith1919 7mo agoThat was my main takeaway as well. How do you do this without any shame? My man is emitting an amount of CO2 on par with an small African country
- adamtaylor_13 7mo agoMost people don't spend a lot of time wistfully considering their CO2 usage, myself included. The religious zeal by which people feel the need to tell me about the ever-warming planet is honestly more off-putting than most actual religions. Of the very few "f*cks" I can give in my life, I prefer to spend mine as I choose rather than being scolded for not giving mine to the pressing issues that others deem important.
- nicbou 7mo agoThe thing is that everyone alive today and in the future is footing the bill for that indifference. It's nice that you don't care, but it's not something I'd brag about.
- integralid 7mo agoI too don't want to be a martyr hermit who don't travel and consume just to cur my CO2 emissions in half, while someone else generates 10x of that living a full life. That's just dumb, and I consider this whole movement rich people telling poor people that they should be considerate and sacrifice themselves. If you truly care about the planet, don't have children.
- lezojeda 7mo ago[dead]
- deleted 7mo ago[deleted]
- jamesharding 7mo agoI work as an airline pilot, and I just recently calculated mine to be 65,658 tonnes in my 10-year career so far (not quite so bad when calculated per seat-mile, but still eye opening!). https://jameshard.ing/pilot/#statistics https://jameshard.ing/pilot/#statistics