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Quoting because I don't think I can get to them and the rest of the conversation is important. Saying "WE are consuming the oil" is technically correct as no other species on Earth has figured out how to do it, but this observation and four quarters gives you a full dollar.

Ultimately people use what is affordable for them, including availability and cost. Using alternatives to fossil fuels is currently more expensive, whether in research, time or straight up money. There are several reasons for this, subsidies and marketing playing no small part, but boiling this question down to personal responsibility is either ignorant of the larger picture or incredibly privileged as in "if I could do it, anybody else can easily do it".

#Environment #Ecology #ClimateChange #FossilFuels


Sure, I am aware of the greenwashing and B.S.
But as I say WE are consuming the oil.
@doctormo

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@Greenpete (No Flag) Oh no, it definitely is right to blame oil/energy companies, as they:
- Profit from extraction/consumption.
- Still rake in government subsidies that deem fossil fuels strategic resources.
- Conducted then buried research into climate change more than 50 years ago.
- Run greenwashing marketing campaigns while applying for more drilling permits.
- Shaped the car-first city design at least in the US, which leaves few to no alternatives for the people born or living there.
- Came up with the very concept of personal environmental responsibility you're blindingly repeating.
- Finance political candidates pushing for more extraction/consumption.

I'm glad to hear that you pedal to work, take the train to visit your relatives and installed solar panels to heat your house but it simply isn't affordable for everybody everywhere, is that so hard a reality to grasp?
This entry was edited (1 year ago)
@Greenpete (No Flag) Nothing is agreeable about your public stance on environmental subjects. Like I said, I didn't expect to get to you and won't try any further.
This is right on target. The propaganda always stresses that "people have a choice, they make decisions." But most of the time those "decisions" have already been made outside your sphere of influence. Most people are not in any position to make use of mass transit. Nor can they afford an (expensive) electrical vehicle. Nor can they determine what percentage of their electricity comes from burning coal or oil... And it goes on and on like this, in almost any "choice" you care to examine.
@tom grzybow Even electrical vehicles have a mixed environmental impact difference compared to gas-powered vehicles. Greenhouse gas emissions are just one of many aspects to consider.
“if I could do it, anybody else can easily do it”.

We see this also, all the time. It's either propaganda or inadvertent self-promotional ignorance.
@Matthew Graybosch Absolutely none, I believe it would send either on the path of the hummingbird trying to extinguish a forest fire thinking they’re doing their part (and optionally publicly admonishing people that don’t) while nothing systemic changes, or on the path of climate despair that prevents any action whatsoever.
Greenhouse gas emissions are just one of many aspects to consider.

Greenhouse gas emissions are about 90% of what is contributing to Global Warming.
@tom grzybow Sure, but what about the sustainability of rare earth mineral mining that plays a big part in current electric vehicle production? A better approach would be reducing car dependency as I don't believe we would be physically able to replace the current gas-powered fleet by electric equivalent for a lack of raw materials.
There's plenty of bad stuff to go around. ;-(
@tom grzybow If only everybody did their part by peeing in the shower, we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with, would we?
Hell, i shower in pee.