I’m not saying my examples are the thing that solves climate change, just that there are paths other than “let corporations do whatever they want.” Government acted to reduce acid rain and the hole in the ozone layer. Government can act to reduce climate change. That means there is a path in our current system.
Total US greenhouse gas emissions are lower than they were in 1990 and they have been going down for years. The question is if we can get low enough, fast enough, globally, to prevent as many negative impacts as possible. That sort of balancing of priorities and costs and benefits is why we have government.
Ok, but again, the impending climate disaster is an exponentially bigger problem than acid rain or the ozone hole were. The fact that it was possible to address those previous environmental problems despite capitalism is only weak evidence that the same can be done with the climate issue.
Total US greenhouse gas emissions are lower than they were in 1990
That was as of 2020, three years ago, when emissions were the lowest they had been in a long time, due to the pandemic. As of 2021, there was already a big rebound in emissions, per the same source that your link cited: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/inventory-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-sinks - by now, we may very well be above 1990. That’s still better than I had thought though.
The pandemic emissions dip is a really good example of what we’re discussing, by the way. Essentially, it clearly demonstrates that greenhouse gas emissions are directly proportional to economic activity. When economic activity was suddenly and drastically reduced by the pandemic, GHG emissions were also reduced. How will this ever happen in the very compressed time frame that’s needed with business as usual with regard to capitalism?
I was thinking a lot about this last week and reached the conclusion that the only chance we will have will be to do away with capitalism as the primary economic system around the world. Unfortunately, I also reached the conclusion that democracy itself may also need to be sacrificed to make all this happen within the short time frame that’s needed, as problematic as I think that idea is.
I’m not saying my examples are the thing that solves climate change, just that there are paths other than “let corporations do whatever they want.” Government acted to reduce acid rain and the hole in the ozone layer. Government can act to reduce climate change. That means there is a path in our current system.
Total US greenhouse gas emissions are lower than they were in 1990 and they have been going down for years. The question is if we can get low enough, fast enough, globally, to prevent as many negative impacts as possible. That sort of balancing of priorities and costs and benefits is why we have government.
Ok, but again, the impending climate disaster is an exponentially bigger problem than acid rain or the ozone hole were. The fact that it was possible to address those previous environmental problems despite capitalism is only weak evidence that the same can be done with the climate issue.
That was as of 2020, three years ago, when emissions were the lowest they had been in a long time, due to the pandemic. As of 2021, there was already a big rebound in emissions, per the same source that your link cited: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/inventory-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-sinks - by now, we may very well be above 1990. That’s still better than I had thought though.
The pandemic emissions dip is a really good example of what we’re discussing, by the way. Essentially, it clearly demonstrates that greenhouse gas emissions are directly proportional to economic activity. When economic activity was suddenly and drastically reduced by the pandemic, GHG emissions were also reduced. How will this ever happen in the very compressed time frame that’s needed with business as usual with regard to capitalism?
I was thinking a lot about this last week and reached the conclusion that the only chance we will have will be to do away with capitalism as the primary economic system around the world. Unfortunately, I also reached the conclusion that democracy itself may also need to be sacrificed to make all this happen within the short time frame that’s needed, as problematic as I think that idea is.