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Climate Change? Nahhh ...

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Riptide, Oct 23, 2015.

Page 172 of 351
  1. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    yes
     
    Azrael, Sep 7, 2022
    #2053
  2. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Azrael, Sep 7, 2022
    #2054
  3. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to (wo)men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

    OK, we shut down all oil and gas production in the U.S. ... how do we meet our considerable energy demands? Like tomorrow? Or do we force everyone to change their lifestyles, get rid of modern conveniences that have become the norm in people's lives? Even if it was possible, can she at least address the cost and all the other things we will need to sacrifice (as our standard of living decreases) to make it a reality?

    Legit conversation: "We are destroying the planet. It's time to think about (legally) mandating behaviors; and stop people from using fossil fuels, even though it is going to come at a very steep cost."

    But that was a kindergarten discussion that didn't address the cost that will be involved in making gas and oil production illegal, and what it would mean for the typical person's life.
     
    The Big Ragu, Sep 7, 2022
    #2055
    I Should Coco and Azrael like this.
  4. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Look at it this way. ... Most of the world is in crisis right now because the cost of those fossil fuels has risen a little (but are still cheaper than any renewable alerternative as it exists today).

    The alternatives are not there, cost-wise. There is so much infrastructure spending that would need to be done just to even consider any renewable source of energy (putting aside their reliability). Take the little rise in energy costs that has absolutely killed people (who are overly indebted already) and make it an even bigger rise in cost to try to transition to other sources. You are talking about something very painful that people are not going to embrace easily.

    She needs to address that.
     
    The Big Ragu, Sep 7, 2022
    #2056
    I Should Coco and Azrael like this.
  5. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Azrael, Sep 7, 2022
    #2057
  6. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Exactly. Marketing tool (or virtual signalling, the way people on here use the term). That money largely = non-profits, faith-based organizations, university endowment funds, philanthropic foundations. Their consistuencies will eat up the optics of them being "responsible" investors.

    It has no practical effect. The largest oil company in the world is Saudi Aramco. It isn't soliciting that investment. Unless you get the Saudi Royal family to divest, that company is going to be well capitalized and ready to meet the (considerable) worldwide demand for oil.
     
    The Big Ragu, Sep 7, 2022
    #2058
  7. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    Definitely not a moral leverage, though. Or a religion.
     
    Alma, Sep 7, 2022
    #2059
  8. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    It's gone up, of course, in recent years.

    Because almost none of this is really about climate change or bettering the planet.
     
    Alma, Sep 7, 2022
    #2060
  9. ChrisLong

    ChrisLong Well-Known Member

    Invariably, whenever we drive past San Onofre, someone will say, "Looks like Dolly Parton lying on her back." And we all laugh even though we've heard it a hundred times.
     
    ChrisLong, Sep 7, 2022
    #2061
    maumann likes this.
  10. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Rather than "a religion," maybe it's an incredibly complex global environmental problem with hundreds of thousands of moving parts across every nation, business and government on the planet, any solution to which means persuading nine billion individuals to do things differently than they have for the last 150 years.

    Maybe.
     
    Azrael, Sep 7, 2022
    #2062
    Mr. Sluggo, TrooperBari, Spartan Squad and 3 others like this.
  11. I Should Coco

    I Should Coco Well-Known Member

    If — and this is a huge “if” — we can get a majority of Americans to recognize that climate change is a serious problem, agreeing on consumption cutbacks or other sacrifice is a much tougher hurdle.

    As the pandemic showed, our ability to sacrifice for the sake of others is not too great. Especially when there instantly are leaders going on Social Media insisting the sacrifice won’t really make a difference.
     
    I Should Coco, Sep 7, 2022
    #2063
    Driftwood likes this.
  12. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    Those two items aren’t mutually exclusive. It can be the last thing while, simultaneously, many zealots approach it like a religion. Which is to say, there are hypocrites.

    I want a sustainable planet too. I have no dog in the fight against renewables; I have relatives *in* the renewable energy business. I’m saying most of this won’t work; how we burn energy - or how we comparatively burn it, fossil v. Renewable - pales in comparison to consumption, but consumption doesn’t make for as neat a story as “ooh, EVs!” so it’s not a story we tell with the same frequency. Abnegation doesn’t seem as fun as a $40,000 purchase that also saves the environment.

    It’s a little like how masks became the conversation for two years when the real systemic key to reducing sicknesses of many kinds is better ventilation systems and the real personal key is…eating/weighing less and perhaps drinking a little less.
     
    Alma, Sep 7, 2022
    #2064
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