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You're not wrong, but it simply isn't politically viable, which has been illustrated quite obviously by now. The "use less" strategy is a complete (and predicta
by rapind 2mo ago
You're not wrong, but it simply isn't politically viable, which has been illustrated quite obviously by now. The "use less" strategy is a complete (and predictable) failure.
- _heimdall 2mo agoOh it shouldn't be a political issue at all. We don't need the government forcing us to reduce energy use, we need people to do it for themselves.
- rapind 2mo agoI wish. Look up "coal rolling".
- iso1631 2mo agoCoal rolling is done to spite the holier-than-thou sanctamonious bullshit that people who say "we need to eat lentils and live in a cave" come out with. It's an illogical reaction, but it's human. We need answers, not revert to a world of catholic sin Change your car to run off electric, great Change your city to transport 1000 people by train rahter than 1000 separate cars, great Power your AC from your off-grid rooftop solar, great Whine that people need to stop using AC, stop eating meat, stop watching TV, it's just harmful.
- _heimdall 2mo agoI haven't seen any whining in the thread, though maybe you're referring to me since I started the thread here? I didn't say people need to stop using AC, I don't even agree that eating less meat would help, and my only mention of TV above was in reference to people deciding to turn it off when they leave the house, not to watch less of it. My main point, though, was that moving around how we use energy, and of what type, will do a lot less good than finding ways to use less.
- glaslong 2mo agoPersonally, I'm ok with all of those things. But I draw the line at whining about whining.
- mrob 2mo agoIt is absolutely the government's job to regulate externalities. Otherwise, personal virtue is just subsidizing third party vice. Energy is fungible. Every joule you save lowers the cost for people who don't care.
- _heimdall 2mo agoRegulate externalities sounds like a nice way of phrasing what would amount to authoritarianism. It seems reasonable to want a government to help ensure externalities aren't being ignored in prices, but not to regulate them by saying how much and what types of things people can use. I don't want my government allocated a set amount of energy I use, for example, but I would be fine with them ensuring prices accurately reflect the true cost. Ironically they often do the opposite, subsidizing energy and food costs which make things cheaper and hide externalities.