Just 1% of people cause a stunning 50% of global aviation emissions
https://novaramedia.com/2022/07/22/private-jet-use-shows-why-we-must-abolish-billionaires/
"Why do I have to limit my meat consumption and use paper straws while the 1% gets to pump tons of carbon into the atmosphere for a day trip to Palm Springs?"
@rysiek Also, if I remember correctly : the single biggest consumer of fossil fuel in the world is the US military.
Why should I save fuel when the military pumps tons of carbon in the atmosphere to kill people or practice killing people?
@rgegriff @rysiek In all fairness this is true of most (all?) airliners, their maximum take-off weight is higher than their maximum landing weight, so sometimes when a flight is shorter than planned (e.g. a medical emergency on board, or a change of plans because of extreme weather) they also have to dump fuel before attempting to land
They are converting:
"The Navy is looking to achieve a 65% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050."
And so are doing the other 6 branches.
@rysiek In "The Ministry for the Future", Kim Stanley Robinson describes a way to tackle this particular problem...
Spoiler
@najodleglejszy @rysiek No, but it does involve manpads
@kgerloff I need to read that then!
@rysiek
Let's not have super-rich or even hoi polloi while we're at it.
@rysiek The "individual carbon footprint" was invented by the oil industry to deflect criticism from big industries and rich people and give normal people the illusion that they can (and indeed have to!) save the planet by altering their individual behaviour.
@rysiek Unfortunately, in fits the other popular narratives in our hyper-individualist world so well, that most people believe it.
@rysiek @doctormo Yes and no. See also my other toot.
Some things are definitely (baby) steps in the right direction.
OTOH, if you keep piling measures on people that don't actually fix the problems, it will lead to cognitive overload, cynicism and unwillingness to adopt those measures that are actually effective and necessary.
"They already took my plastic straws, my bear cans and made me sort trash into 5 different containers, but it's never enough."
@__h2__ @rysiek Oh I agree, but I don't mean behavior by policy, or even nudging.
I mean the idea that what a person personally does either doesn't matter or is /just/ an escape hatch for big corps and govt action. It's clear that people doing their small things on their own volition, creates pressure higher up the stack of society's owners to do the bigger things.
@rysiek Here is a good video on the matter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiw6_JakZFc
@dentangle @__h2__ also, nobody really figured out a good way to recycle most plastics. Plastic companies have been pushing the idea of recycling for decades without actually being able to do that.
@rysiek @dentangle Germans are obsessed about separating trash. Most think that everything they put into the yellow bin is recycled. In reality, more than 50% is later burned with the rest of the trash.
@rysiek Supposedly 80% of people have never flown on a plane.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/07/boeing-ceo-80-percent-of-people-never-flown-for-us-that-means-growth.html
Or, in other words, while we are limiting our meat intake, limiting travel, and paying extra for "eco-friendly" options of everything, the super-rich are single-handedly killing the planet just because they do not feel like mingling with hoi polloi on trains and commercial planes.