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Why Nobody Will Do Anything Until It's Too Late

32 pointsby ptidhommealmost 2 years ago

6 comments

Kirby64almost 2 years ago
The whole argument that &quot;the best car to drive is the small old efficient one you have today&quot; always seemed idealistic and false on its face. Sure, lifetime emissions of that vehicle are likely lower if you ignore the initial cost of that vehicle... But it&#x27;s not like the option is between &quot;scrap the old efficient ICE vehicle and buy a new EV&quot; or &quot;drive this old ICE&quot;. That older car gets passed on to another consumer, who will, likely, on average lower their total emissions.<p>New vehicles are inevitable, as older vehicles are eventually infeasible to repair. So, the correct answer is to actually look at lifetime emissions of a vehicle... You can never ignore that initial cost to manufacture, even if you current already own it.<p>The only way you actually worsen lifetime emissions is if you somehow hoard cars and cause repeated &quot;initial manufacturing emissions&quot; in excess of a typical consumer. Everything else is just moving when you count the consumption.
gmusleraalmost 2 years ago
It may be already too late, even doing everything right from now on.<p>The system still have some pending inertia to apply, the accumulated greenhouse gases (that would last there 10+ years for methane, and 100+ years for CO2 from their emissions) will keep the warming up the planet. They already triggered feedback loops will add even more greenhouse gases, and increase the rate of warming by i.e. increasing Earth&#x27;s albedo, so is more than just inertia. The current photo must be complemented by what the system, by itself, will do even without our intervention, how it will keep changing hands off.<p>With that in mind, what is meaningful to do, what actions will be an environment fixing theather, PR, or just delusional? The most obvious answer is that is not just one thing, is a big pack of measures that should go from changing our lifestyle (and I don&#x27;t mean personally, I mean civilization level), how is our economy, how we stop worsening the problem, and how we reverse the trends, maybe adding a little geoengineering to perish during the all the time that this will last.<p>The Ministry for the Future, with its own faults, proposed fixing the problem without magical solutions, was a very complex and diverse process with a lot of moving parts. The biggest fantasy of that book was that everyone was willing to play their part on this, and that everything worked perfectly without falling like a house of cards. Not saying that what should be done is what is described in the book, but whatever is done, won&#x27;t be just an isolated action.
MattGaiseralmost 2 years ago
&gt; Most of the consumption of resources and damage to the planet occur in the mining, smelting and manufacture of the vehicle, regardless of its fuel. Due to their massive consumption of minerals, electric vehicles consume far more of the planet&#x27;s resources than an ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicle.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.epa.gov&#x2F;greenvehicles&#x2F;electric-vehicle-myths#Myth2" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.epa.gov&#x2F;greenvehicles&#x2F;electric-vehicle-myths#Myt...</a><p>&gt; Then there&#x27;s the source of the fuel. An electric vehicle manufactured by burning coal and charged with electricity generated by burning coal is in fact a coal-burning vehicle. Calling it &quot;electric&quot; fits the happy story, but it&#x27;s not actually factual: a coal-burning vehicle is an environmental disaster, regardless of labels, our opinions or the happy-ending PR.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.epa.gov&#x2F;greenvehicles&#x2F;electric-vehicle-myths#Myth1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.epa.gov&#x2F;greenvehicles&#x2F;electric-vehicle-myths#Myt...</a><p>&gt; Electric aircraft won&#x27;t &quot;save the world,&quot; either. They&#x27;re resource-hungry, small, slow, their range is modest and their batteries are no more recyclable or long-lasting than all the vehicle batteries destined for the landfill. And alternative fuels for jet aircraft are incapable of being produced at the scale necessary to replace jet fuel. Sorry, no Hollywood ending.<p>People said this about batteries a decade ago. They were saying it about human flying just over a century ago.<p>This is not to say that everything is all good, but substantial progress is being made.
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dramatic-cablealmost 2 years ago
i think it’s worth noting that this author leans really had into how much money and resources it costs to grow your own food because of commercial fertilizer, but fertilizer is really easy to make and also not actually required to grow your own food. i don’t.<p>also worth noting that there are some extremely questionable titles under the other books by the author section<p>not saying it’s all wrong, just- check your references before falling down this particular nihilistic logic path.
cvccvroomvroomalmost 2 years ago
Chickenlittle argument for inaction.<p>The necessary actions require leadership: end meat agriculture, end FF extraction, and massive bio-assisted CCS.
orionblastaralmost 2 years ago
Firefighter problem, put out the fire after it breaks out instead of having people prevent the problem in the first place.