- cross-posted to:
- climatecrisis@lemmy.ml
- cross-posted to:
- climatecrisis@lemmy.ml
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I know it won’t fix it, and this is hardly a comprehensive list. But I feel like there are some stupid-easy things Americans could do to reduce the harm. Just a few that come to mind:
- Don’t buy a big vehicle like a giant pickup truck unless you really need it. (A pavement princess for your ego is not a need).
- Book air travel as little as possible. Again, only if you truly need it.
- If you are growing something that requires a lot of water in an area that doesn’t get very much rain…stop doing that. (If you have some kind of closed loop water system, that’s an exception. But how many actually have that.)
- Telecommute if you can. If you can do your job from home and your boss won’t let you, it’s time to hunt for another job.
Americans don’t have the choice to do most of these things, or the choice to do most of anything.
They’re locked into a system, things are decided for them. There needs to be a change internally in America before these things can be changed. Honestly, I think the will to change these things is small, most Americans don’t know much beyond oxygen tanks and diabetes.
Americans don’t have the choice not to buy gigantic pickup trucks and SUVs? Gimme a break. I have never bought one, it’s not some kind of one weird trick thing, you just literally don’t fucking buy them and buy something smaller and cheaper instead.
I live in a red, suburban county. Almost every house in my neighborhood has a big ass pickup sitting in the driveway (because it won’t fit in the garage). Most of these dudes drive their giant pickups to work in an office building.
I asked one of them - an engineer - about it once. He said he works in an office but has to drive to job sites every once in a while, so he drives a truck. Keep in mind the dude does not do any manual labor on those job sites. But the people working there do - and he doesn’t want to feel left out.
I’d estimate that well over half the big ass trucks in America are driven by guys who want to fit it, but don’t actually need them. They’d be much better off driving something like a Nissan Leaf, but don’t want to get made fun of.
So you’re saying that millions of fragile men are bullied into buying full size trucks and they have no agency whatsoever into their purchase? This is no different than exposing your kids to second hands smoke because you are afraid if you don’t smoke you won’t look cool. I seriously don’t understand why we’re making excuses and coddling these weak egos instead of actually supporting the victims of the violence these people inflict on other road users. I’m more than happy to criticize the regulatory bodies and the manufacturers for failing society as well, but that doesn’t mean the purchasers that make this all possible are innocent. It’s a rotten subculture that needs to be called out at all levels.
Americans don’t have the choice to do most of these things, or the choice to do most of anything.
You have the choice what car to buy. You often have a choice of when you fly somewhere. I mean, you can always skip that California vacation and go camping somewhere local, I’m not asking you to skip your brother’s wedding.
That post also misses the biggest thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint. Eat less beef. Reduce the amount of beef you eat, substitute chicken or even pork, that will have a massive effect on your carbon footprint.
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The word “misunderstand” implies an attempt at understanding.
Oh look, it’s the latest Big Company propaganda piece attempting to blame the average citizen for ruinous climate change that is pretty much solely on the back of corporate negligence and/or malice, because not being an evil douchebag costs the company 15 whole extra cents a year!
Vehicles as a whole are a lost sunken cause.
