Reply to do you know anyone in this affluent area that has altered their lifestyle to reduce CO2 emissions?

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Reply to "do you know anyone in this affluent area that has altered their lifestyle to reduce CO2 emissions?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote]No none cares.  And with good reason -- your sacrifice -- while perhaps noble ---- matters not a bit.  And if everyone in Arlington did like you it would not matter -- and the same for the entire US.  The issues are largely China and India.  We contribute and if they cut back we could I suppose and maybe but not likely there would be some impact.  There will be solutions but they are not driving less or keeping the temp in your house uncomfortable.  There is really no reason right now to reduce your footprint.  That is not what will solve the issues we have.  It is a little like disinfecting your take out and groceries at the start of the pandemic.  It may make you feel better but did not matter (maybe hurt?).  Yet lots of people did it and some still do.  We solve this by continued investment in wind and solar, massive expansion of nuclear, and breakthroughs in battery technology that are probably 20 years away.  Not by being extra hot or cold or drive less.[/quote]

In regard to China and India, much of what is produced in those countries is exported to the West. So a sizable portion of their emissions is associated with our consumption. I've seen estimates that about half of the U.S. carbon footprint is in the form of "embodied CO2" that is associated with our imports. In short, reduction of our consumption here in the U.S. could lead to less CO2 produced in China and India.

On a separate but related point: several prior posts mention that household CO2 is small relative to CO2 produced by industry, and, consequently, reductions in household CO2 can't have much impact. However, households are the ultimate destination for "final" goods. Without household consumption, industry would have no customers to serve. This means that downward adjustments of household consumption can have a downward impact on industrial CO2. This may lead to a smaller GDP -- or slower GDP growth -- but this is a worthwhile price to pay to reduce the effects of climate change.

One final thought: if we want to maintain our high consumption levels while simultaneously reducing emissions, I think the only way forward is to massively ramp-up our nuclear power production. So if you are an individual who believes that lowering consumption is pointless, and that household-level attempts to reduce CO2 are a waste of time, then perhaps you still help fight climate change by pushing leaders to expand our nuclear power production.[/quote]

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