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There's an underlying element here. Some people have developed a sort of belief system around the idea of carbon emissions being intrinsically amoral. For them,
by InclinedPlane 11y ago
There's an underlying element here. Some people have developed a sort of belief system around the idea of carbon emissions being intrinsically amoral. For them, man-made CO2 emissions are dirty, gross, and fundamentally sinful. Ameliorating the impact of CO2 on the climate is thus something like purchasing a religious indulgence in that worldview. Anything that enables continued carbon emissions without humanity suffering the consequences is thus seen as extremely morally suspect.
- danieltillett 11y agoYes there is a bit of this (the beaver's dam is good and part of nature while the human dam is bad), but the previous thinking was more if we as scientists provide alternatives then the politicians will decide they don't need to do anything about emissions. There has been a bit of an epiphany within the scientific community of late that we might have left it too late to solve just by reducing emissions and that we also need to work on alternatives just in case.
- adaml_623 11y agoCan you give some links for the epiphany you mention. I'm interested in geoengineering
- danieltillett 11y agoI will try and dig out some of the good papers I have tomorrow (it is getting later here), but a good place to start is wiki [1]. Have a read through all the references they have. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_engineering https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_engineering
- mangeletti 11y agoI think there is something intuitively different between the engineering of non-human animals in nature[1] that has gone on for millions of years and which the rest of nature has evolved along side of, and the human engineering[2] that has drastically changed the face of the planet in less than 200 years, rendering much of nature extinct in the meantime. 1. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/AmericanBeaver.JPG https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/American... 2. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-07/20/13406959_11n.jpg http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-07/20/13406...
- danieltillett 11y agoThe difference is we (humans) are better at engineering than beavers (not a put down of beavers as they are amazing).
- 7952 11y agoAnd by focussing on the big bad we ignore the more immediate threats that fossil fuel burning causes. The health issues caused by vehicle emissions are well documented yet there is little social pressure against buying dirty cars (which are much more obviously sinful).