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Greenhouse gas emissions are at an all-time high and Earth is warming faster than ever – report
(theconversation.com)
this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2023
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Is it really?
Do these small personal changes matter anything at all in the big picture?
It seems to me we all, like everyone living in a rich country on the entire earth, need to drastically change our way of living, in order for it to actually matter anything.
It just seems so improbable that we will be able to stop this thing, that it seems pointless to even try.
Sorry for the negativity. But I really have a hard time feeling anything other than hopelessness, and in the end indifference, when it comes to the climate crisis.
Only people who are too lazy to do anything say stuff like this. There are 8 billion of us. If everybody did something small that would make a huge difference.
Imo that's a harmful look on this issue. Everyone should contribute, of course, but this will never be enough. The real impact can only come from country/worldwide policy changes. Research your election candidates on those topics and vote!
One doesn't exclude the other. For sure, systemic changes are most powerful and freaking necessary right now, so yes - research your election candidates and vote!
But at the same time do everything you can on personal level. It probably means lots of sacrifices. Smaller and bigger ones. E.g. I can stop using car for most of the trips, however I have to sacrifice time, because pubtrans is not good at my place. But I still live in a city, where there is some pubtrans. What about people who don't have it in their area, that don't live in a city but in a countryside or suburbs? They have to sacrifice a lot more than me. Are they willing to? Would I be willing to if I was in their shoes?
It's not that they're lazy, it's that the cost of the amount of change necessary to make that huge difference cannot be afforded by the vast majority of those 8 billion people. The "small" change mentioned above about upgrading to a more efficient furnace is probably over $1000. And we constantly hear that "56% of Americans can’t cover a $1,000 emergency expense with savings". The problem could have been solved by a bunch of small changes 50 years ago. Then it could have been solved by government intervention 30 years ago. Today, we have such a wealth gap that 8 billion "small" changes (assuming "small" is something most people can actually afford) would add up to something so negligible, it honestly wouldn't be worth the effort.
I'll leave this clip here. We could have solved this with government intervention. The fossil fuel industry made that impossible through lobbying and astroturfing. Now humanity will find out the hard way why it shouldn't ever let that happen again.
Every little thing helps. There are 8 billion of us.
I agree. I choose to participate in polluting as little as possible; but it does feel pointless so I also chose not to have children. They’ll have enough soldiers for the upcoming water wars. I’m not adding another.