@wall0159 So I agree that changing your car alone isn't going to save the planet.
Switching to electric cooking alone isn't going to save the planet.
But they are steps along the road to saving the planet.
We have to take the steps. We can't just say "well, that first step isn't going to get me all the way there, so I won't take it."
OTTOMH, Transport is about 20% of global energy usage. Car usage is about a quarter of that, so 5% of total.
You can remain 'unconvinced' if you like, but the science is fairly clear.
But it's impolite and unhelpful to say that.
People feel confronted when they're asked to actually change their own behaviours. People point to every other thing and say "they should change first". People - including me - downplay their own contributions to the problem and boost the things they do that they think help the solution.
I get this. But at what point do you question your own choices, and say "you know, actually, it is going to cost me money to change, but I will change"?
I agree in principle with everything you've said, though I would emphasise that the most significant thing we need to do is behavioural change, and that simply spending money doesn't cut it.
Electrification is a necessary but insufficient step -- we must combine electrification with a significant cut in consumption -- both of time-of-use-energy, and manufactured/embodied energy.
To manufacture a new petrol car releases about 10 tCO2, and to manufacture a new electric car releases about 15-20 tCO2. Some simple maths shows the problem if Australia replaces its car fleet (20 million cars).
Simply, we can't make 20 million cars (of any type) and remain within our carbon budget (though currently, due to accounting trickery, we pretend that emissions that occur in China are a Chinese problem, even though they are manufacturing the goods that we buy)
Because of this, we must, as a matter of priority, move away from the private car as a model of transport. This is the reason that my family's predominant transport is bicycle and public transport. This is doable for most Australians, but it takes some effort.
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