(I have supported strong action on climate change for over 20 years, and I still do, but..)
I think this is simply not correct. Taking action to "safeguard our future" requires considerably more than shifting 2% of our wealth.
We need to radically alter many fundamental aspects of how society works, including
energy
agriculture
transport
manufacturing
I think it's dangerous to understate the reality of what is required.
This claim reminds me of Nordhaus' dangerously-misguided remark that climate change will have a negligible effect because agriculture is only 3% of GDP
@GreenFire, well given the global economy is averaging about 3% annual growth, reallocating 2% p.a. away from fossil energy implies 1% p.a. growth in fossil energy consumption. Do you think that's compatible with future human flourishing?
@jpm dB is a logarithmic scale. Every 3dB is double the energy. A plane taking off is about 130dB, and there are about 170 energy doublings to get to 600 dB. I'm guessing the energy of a 600 dB horn would be like a super nova ;-)
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.
@fifischwarz@boeken@bookstodon oh yeah, I know what you mean :-) it's great to discover a fabulous new author and have their whole back-catalogue ready to read - such promise!
When I was in my early 20’s, I hustled my ass off. I worked 2 jobs and a side hustle. I drank 8 cups of coffee a day and popped No Doz pills to work at night.
And then I burned the fuck out. And crashed hard.
And it wasn’t worth it.
There’s a lot of folks who will tell you: “grind to the point of exhaustion. Chase wealth and rest later. Make work your only religion.”
That advice is poison. It will leave you broken and hurt and tired and alone.
@Daojoan the other thing I've realised over the years: this striving is considered a virtue, but at root it's nothing more than competition for resources
That's the wind turbine almost completely ready to go back up. There are two more washers I want to replace before it goes back up to the top of a tall mast exposed to driving wind and rain, and I'll need to order those. But it's mostly done.