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Get politically involved, vote and and volunteer for local pro-climate candidates. Talk about and promote public transport, cycling, better zoning and infrastru

Get politically involved, vote and and volunteer for local pro-climate candidates. Talk about and promote public transport, cycling, better zoning and infrastructure etc. People underestimate the power of local politics. On a macro scale all you can really do is vote for national level candidates that care about these issues. Luckily it’s not hard to see which ones do and which ones don’t.

SoftTalker 1mo ago
Individually you can't do anything. You can drive an EV, set your AC to 78, or whatever makes you feel good but only national governments can make the regulatory changes that will really have an impact. I even roll my eyes at my city council spending even one second on climate change policy (and they have spent whole meetings on it). Our city of 80,000 people could disappear from the face of the planet and it would not make a bit of difference.
- estearum 1mo ago
  You can vote
  - tyre 1mo ago
    Entirely depends on your district. There are many districts where it doesn't matter, especially with gerrymandering. Better to volunteer for a swing district. You can write letters or fundraise from home, anywhere in the country.
    - estearum 1mo ago
      It's absolutely worth voting even in a "safe" district because political mandates are won separately from political power itself. You should also volunteer for a swing district though! Very good idea.
  - SoftTalker 1mo ago
    Yes you can but you'll have to vote against your immediate self interest and comfort. The sort of changes that will have an impact on the climate will mean giving up a lot of what makes modern life convenient and comfortable.
    - bluefirebrand 1mo ago
      I think there are gradients to this It would be hard for me to vote against indoor plumbing if that was needed to save the planet I would vote against "Same Day Delivery" in a heartbeat though, if it helped
      - estearum 1mo ago
        Not to mention there are plenty of environmental improvements that are vast and near-term quality of life improvements. The only penalty on many of these things is financial, but even that is only in the near-term, and in the medium to long term become financial wins.
      - tgsovlerkhgsel 1mo ago
        Best the corresponding parties can do is banning plastic straws (no impact but feels great) and massive bureaucratic hurdles for air conditioning in private homes (because it's an "unnecessary luxury" and if your apartment is unbearably hot during a heat wave where the temperature doesn't drop below 25 even at night, you're just not correctly using shades and windows).
        estearum 1mo ago
        Not really. We've made significant enough progress on this issue to prove that policy-driven progress is in fact possible. This type of cynicism is both unwarranted and unhelpful.
        tgsovlerkhgsel 1mo ago
        These changes were often not driven by the "green" parties though.
  - Noaidi 1mo ago
    Both parties in the United States are pretty much turning a blind eye to climate change. What we need to do is start boycotting parties, telling them we won’t vote for them unless they have really strong climate platforms. We need to make them want our vote.
    - dalyons 1mo ago
      This is some “both sides” absolute bullshit. The Biden administration passed the IRA, huge incentives for personal and commercial renewable energy production, EVs, all kinds of things. Trump is paying people to burn more coal, blocking solar, canceling wind. Could the dems have done more, sure. Are those programs perfect, absolutely not. But one party is moving in the right direction and the other is actively trying to accelerate climate change. Gtfo with that both sides crap.
      - cdaringe 1mo ago
        100%. Would have gone even harder if some moderates didn’t gunk up the works too. The both sides bit is jaw droppingly ignorant if you pay attention to regional and national politics.
      - Noaidi 1mo ago
        They are both not doing enough. Yes, the Republicans and Trump are much worse, I was not saying they were same at all. But what needs to happen is far from anything the Biden administration has done or proposed. IF you think what Biden has done was good enough then you do not understand what is happening with the climate right now. Yes I will vote for a Democrat over a Republican, but I am not expecting change to come from them, it needs to come from us. The Democrats get money from the same corporations.
    - estearum 1mo ago
      Imagine thinking that politicians give literally even one single fuck about non-voters' opinions lmao
      - Noaidi 1mo ago
- thothless 1mo ago
  well obviously YOU couldn't. you seem to lack the willpower to sacrifice a single convenience in favor of the rest of us, per your confession below. that's the difference between you and the public servants that you roll your eyes at.
- mxkopy 1mo ago
  “Everyone wants the village, nobody wants to be the villager.” Maybe look into changing what you want.
- tito 1mo ago
  Working at the level of 80,000 people is a lot more effective than working at the level of an individual. Working on your own carbon footprint is a $100M marketing trick played on you by oil companies like BP. Leah Stokes' new book offers instead a "carbon wave" -- how to evaluate and maximize your impact at a local, state, national, and global level. Here's a LinkedIn post. She's got a new book coming out about this: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:share:7496265286942359552/ https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:share:7496265286...
- dylan604 1mo ago
  > I even roll my eyes at my city council spending even one second on climate change policy Every meeting minute spent on discussing climate change is another minute not spent on authorizing things like Flock or permitting data centers. That's nothing to roll your eyes about
- xboxnolifes 1mo ago
  A small town's policy can influence larger city policy, which can influence national policy.
Gigachad 1mo ago
You can do all of that, and then Elon Musk will use his hundreds of billions to install another pedofile in charge who won't give a shit about the environment.
- wolvoleo 1mo ago
  I remember when Musk was genuinely trying to make the world better with electric cars. Now he's more worried about which toilets people use.
  - edoceo 1mo ago
    He could use his assets/wealth to ensure everyone on earth has a functional, hygienic toilet. Would improve QOL for many who still live with open sewer systems.
    - vachina 1mo ago
      He does that by sponsoring tons of H1Bs.
      - wolvoleo 1mo ago
        H1B gives a lot of power over you by the employer, lose your job and you get kicked out of the country too, so there's a lot of pressure. So basically cheap labour and don't complain or else. And you have to live in a country that currently hates and demonises foreigners. My manager (who is on an H1B in America) asked if I wanted to move there too. Lol :') No way. I'm not even visiting for a meeting anymore. For me to ever consider travelling there at least 2 things must be fixed: No Trump and no mandatory social media collection and device seizures at the border. Not that I have something to hide but I just don't want to and won't cooperate. I don't think this will actually happen though (the latter parts, of course Trump won't stay forever). Because the privacy invasion is a bipartisan thing.
  - Noaidi 1mo ago
    Elon Musk was never trying to make the world a better place. He was always a businessman and he was using that to con the government into giving him money so he can make more money.

SoftTalker 1mo ago

Individually you can't do anything. You can drive an EV, set your AC to 78, or whatever makes you feel good but only national governments can make the regulatory changes that will really have an impact. I even roll my eyes at my city council spending even one second on climate change policy (and they have spent whole meetings on it). Our city of 80,000 people could disappear from the face of the planet and it would not make a bit of difference.

estearum 1mo ago
You can vote
- tyre 1mo ago
  Entirely depends on your district. There are many districts where it doesn't matter, especially with gerrymandering. Better to volunteer for a swing district. You can write letters or fundraise from home, anywhere in the country.
  - estearum 1mo ago
    It's absolutely worth voting even in a "safe" district because political mandates are won separately from political power itself. You should also volunteer for a swing district though! Very good idea.
- SoftTalker 1mo ago
  Yes you can but you'll have to vote against your immediate self interest and comfort. The sort of changes that will have an impact on the climate will mean giving up a lot of what makes modern life convenient and comfortable.
  - bluefirebrand 1mo ago
    I think there are gradients to this It would be hard for me to vote against indoor plumbing if that was needed to save the planet I would vote against "Same Day Delivery" in a heartbeat though, if it helped
    - estearum 1mo ago
      Not to mention there are plenty of environmental improvements that are vast and near-term quality of life improvements. The only penalty on many of these things is financial, but even that is only in the near-term, and in the medium to long term become financial wins.
    - tgsovlerkhgsel 1mo ago
      Best the corresponding parties can do is banning plastic straws (no impact but feels great) and massive bureaucratic hurdles for air conditioning in private homes (because it's an "unnecessary luxury" and if your apartment is unbearably hot during a heat wave where the temperature doesn't drop below 25 even at night, you're just not correctly using shades and windows).
      - estearum 1mo ago
        Not really. We've made significant enough progress on this issue to prove that policy-driven progress is in fact possible. This type of cynicism is both unwarranted and unhelpful.
        tgsovlerkhgsel 1mo ago
        These changes were often not driven by the "green" parties though.
- Noaidi 1mo ago
  Both parties in the United States are pretty much turning a blind eye to climate change. What we need to do is start boycotting parties, telling them we won’t vote for them unless they have really strong climate platforms. We need to make them want our vote.
  - dalyons 1mo ago
    This is some “both sides” absolute bullshit. The Biden administration passed the IRA, huge incentives for personal and commercial renewable energy production, EVs, all kinds of things. Trump is paying people to burn more coal, blocking solar, canceling wind. Could the dems have done more, sure. Are those programs perfect, absolutely not. But one party is moving in the right direction and the other is actively trying to accelerate climate change. Gtfo with that both sides crap.
    - cdaringe 1mo ago
      100%. Would have gone even harder if some moderates didn’t gunk up the works too. The both sides bit is jaw droppingly ignorant if you pay attention to regional and national politics.
    - Noaidi 1mo ago
      They are both not doing enough. Yes, the Republicans and Trump are much worse, I was not saying they were same at all. But what needs to happen is far from anything the Biden administration has done or proposed. IF you think what Biden has done was good enough then you do not understand what is happening with the climate right now. Yes I will vote for a Democrat over a Republican, but I am not expecting change to come from them, it needs to come from us. The Democrats get money from the same corporations.
  - estearum 1mo ago
    Imagine thinking that politicians give literally even one single fuck about non-voters' opinions lmao
    - Noaidi 1mo ago
thothless 1mo ago
well obviously YOU couldn't. you seem to lack the willpower to sacrifice a single convenience in favor of the rest of us, per your confession below. that's the difference between you and the public servants that you roll your eyes at.
mxkopy 1mo ago
“Everyone wants the village, nobody wants to be the villager.” Maybe look into changing what you want.
tito 1mo ago
Working at the level of 80,000 people is a lot more effective than working at the level of an individual. Working on your own carbon footprint is a $100M marketing trick played on you by oil companies like BP. Leah Stokes' new book offers instead a "carbon wave" -- how to evaluate and maximize your impact at a local, state, national, and global level. Here's a LinkedIn post. She's got a new book coming out about this: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:share:7496265286942359552/ https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:share:7496265286...
dylan604 1mo ago
> I even roll my eyes at my city council spending even one second on climate change policy Every meeting minute spent on discussing climate change is another minute not spent on authorizing things like Flock or permitting data centers. That's nothing to roll your eyes about
xboxnolifes 1mo ago
A small town's policy can influence larger city policy, which can influence national policy.

Gigachad 1mo ago

You can do all of that, and then Elon Musk will use his hundreds of billions to install another pedofile in charge who won't give a shit about the environment.

wolvoleo 1mo ago
I remember when Musk was genuinely trying to make the world better with electric cars. Now he's more worried about which toilets people use.
- edoceo 1mo ago
  He could use his assets/wealth to ensure everyone on earth has a functional, hygienic toilet. Would improve QOL for many who still live with open sewer systems.
  - vachina 1mo ago
    He does that by sponsoring tons of H1Bs.
    - wolvoleo 1mo ago
      H1B gives a lot of power over you by the employer, lose your job and you get kicked out of the country too, so there's a lot of pressure. So basically cheap labour and don't complain or else. And you have to live in a country that currently hates and demonises foreigners. My manager (who is on an H1B in America) asked if I wanted to move there too. Lol :') No way. I'm not even visiting for a meeting anymore. For me to ever consider travelling there at least 2 things must be fixed: No Trump and no mandatory social media collection and device seizures at the border. Not that I have something to hide but I just don't want to and won't cooperate. I don't think this will actually happen though (the latter parts, of course Trump won't stay forever). Because the privacy invasion is a bipartisan thing.
- Noaidi 1mo ago
  Elon Musk was never trying to make the world a better place. He was always a businessman and he was using that to con the government into giving him money so he can make more money.