Reply to climate change news; as bad as I knew, but still...

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Of course those indoor options will just accelerate the problem.

I sort of feel like anyone that is not studying science to solve this is probably wasting their education.  I haven’t convinced my kids of this yet though.

I also feel like we need a major shift in societal norms.  100 years ago, it was considered totally okay to spit in the street: smoke; wear furs from endangered animals; kill elephants for their tusks; make little children work in your factories; use racist terms and openly segregate based on race…..all of these things would more or less make you a social pariah now.

When is it going to be considered social suicide to air condition your office to 68 degrees in the summer; to fly to Paris for a weekend trip; to rip out your whole kitchen and replace it because you got bored of the style; to eat cheeseburgers every day; to drive to work solo in a car daily?

I admit I do at least some of those things or am tempted to do them.  But most of them are honestly worse than wearing an ivory necklace or a tiger fur coat, ethically speaking.  I’m sounding more radical and judgmental in this post than I actually am, but I am surprised at how slow the shift in social norms has been.  [/quote]

I have a good friend who is one of the authors of the second part of the IPCC report (it hasn’t come out yet) and it’s about policy changes and things that can be done to mitigate climate change.  What she has been telling me for years is that we should do individual things to be good stewards of the Earth, but [b]we are so far gone that the only really change can come for corporations and governments.  Not to put a damper on an already sad thread.[/b][/quote]
I posted above, but I feel like this is actually the biggest problem. We live in the oldest democracy on earth, yet everyone seems to think that the government is some separate entity from them. If you want better policies, don't get depressed on DCUM. Start talking to your elected representatives and demand better policies. Yes, Congress is dysfunctional...but some of the most important decisions have nothing to do with Congress. Do you know if your city has a climate action plan? If so, is it any good? If so, is your city meeting its goals? If everyone doom and gloom person worried about climate change in America explored these questions and demanded the necessary changes, it would actually move the needle.[/quote]

I am PP and I hear you about advocating for policy change but I was responding to the post above that changing your thermostat to 68 won’t really do anything at this point.  Not saying not to, but it has to be governmental action.  [/quote]

I’m always a little perplexed when people say that individual consumer action doesn’t matter.  Aren’t the industries responding to the consumer demands?  So if people don’t want to buy crap, they will stop producing it?  And if people won’t fly anymore, they won’t run all those airplanes for nothing.  Residential and commercial use accounts for 30% of US greenhouse gas.  If people insisted we stop air conditioning offices below 85 degrees, and put solar panels on every empty roof, couldn’t we cut that in half?  The corporations and the governments are only giving us what we want.  The businesses aren’t going to produce shit just for the sake of producing it (well, with the exception of military weapons), right?[/quote]

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