lola85 wrote: » Seriously who the **** was around 1 million years ago holding a thermometer in the air?
Thelonious Monk wrote: » No thanks lola, I'll listen to the UN and NASA and the vast vast majority of scientists who tell us man is contributing greatly to global warming
topper75 wrote: » NASA - the shower launching all those rockets? There must be some CO2 involved there somewhere. Have either of them said that we can control the climate? Because if we can, we have nothing to fear. And if we can't - we may as well carry on regardless.
lola85 wrote: » Thelonious Monk wrote: » All of us are contributing to climate change, it's impossible not to. I'm not lecturing to anyone. The climate has been changing since time began. Google ice ages, might help you understand how we have no control over it.
Thelonious Monk wrote: » All of us are contributing to climate change, it's impossible not to. I'm not lecturing to anyone.
Thelonious Monk wrote: » Do all you "everything is ok" people think we should carry on consuming and growing our economies the way we are at the expense of the planet? Do you not see how it cant end well?
Tell me how wrote: » That's the difference between you and her. You think someone 'gave' her the spotlight. She made the world pay attention to what she was doing. Massive difference.
Pa ElGrande wrote: » Timing, they got lucky with Greta. That have been trying various kids since 2015 and none really stuck. Interesting timing she starts protesting when her mothers book is published. There was Ingmar Rentzhog who had the contacts with the Germans who had the publicity machine that they had been working on since 2015.
MrMusician18 wrote: » I think that most of us acknowledge that there is a problem, the issue is what is the solution? Carbon tax? Well at the levels proposed,it won't make a jot of difference, since the increase in fuel as a result would be within the perturbation of the market anyway. And when fuel rises due to external issues, like a war in the middle East, CO2 emissions are not depressed. Carbon tax would therefore need to rise to make carbon genuinely unaffordable for it to make a difference in terms of emissions, and the cost of this would certainly be lower economic growth. Others point to new technologies, but the truth is that these are not developed enough either to keep us in the lifestyle we've become accustomed to. So what are we campaigning for? A pointless increase in taxes that won't achieve anything? A reduction in living standards generally?
Tell me how wrote: » So, you acknowledge that something needs to be done but immediately jump to anything which could be done is pointless. If you were in control for a week, if someone said to you, introduce some initiative, anything, which had a reasonable chance of positively influencing behaviour, what would it be that you would do?
MrMusician18 wrote: » Of course I acknowledge that something needs to be done, I'm not a climate denier. What I'm questioning is the effectiveness of a carbon tax that's been touted as a solution. Diesel has gone up 5c at the forecourt over the last week, 5 times the likely increase in carbon tax at the budget, do you really think that will reduce emissions? Do you think carbon emissions in transport are 4% lower this week than last due to the price rise? Carbon is clearly not very price sensitive. Fuel prices have risen from 99c/l during the recession to 135c/l now and transport emissions have increased. All a carbon tax will achieve is make the poor, poorer. It's completely regressive. The other way to reduce emissions is to reduce people's standard of living - based on current technology. Protesters need to be honest about that, to both themselves and others.
Tell me how wrote: » Firstly, you're the one suggesting carbon tax here in this conversation, I'm not, but there is strong evidence that it takes a penalty to actually instigate change. Secondly, why does it have to reduce people's standard of living? If there were 50% less cars on the city centre roads with the people instead cycling or using public transport, is that a reduction in standard of living. Akso, let's think about the car situation. On average, repayments, tax, insurance, fuel, maintenance, tolls probably mean most people are forking out 100/week on theirs. After tax. That's say 8k a year from your gross, just for the car. If you're on 40k, that's 20% of your wage. Now, if you use your car one hour each morning and evening, 5 days a week and 3 hours each day sat and Sunday, that's 16 hrs/week (fairly heavy use for most I would say) or 10% of available time. So you're spending 20% of you're income on something which is idle 90% of the time. Does that seem right? Say 50% more urban dwellers were cycling instead if going by car, they'll generally be healthier, get their quicker and have more money for having done so. Is that a reduction in quality of life? Granted, in rural areas, you mostly do need a car but we should promote what we can, where we can.
lola85 wrote: » And that’s it? You won’t listen to any other opinions?
topper75 wrote: » NASA - the shower launching all those rockets?
alan partridge aha wrote: » Greta and your ilk, stop using phones, stop been brought to school, stop using planes, if not fu5k off and fu5k up.
Dave_The_Sheep wrote: » Compelling.
Kermit.de.frog wrote: » So we need to give up our missions as a species in to space as well now? I'm all for cleaning up our act in as far as is practical but being stupid is not part of the solution.
Deleted User wrote: » most of the greta acolytes here wouldve been browbeating the proles about something else in 2009 and will be browbeating the proles about something else in 2029. there's always that percentage that needs to be on a soapbox wagging fingers at everyone else, god bless them.
Deleted User wrote: » your entire sell was "anyone of good faith has to agree to agree with me, anyone else i will ignore" ... most of the greta acolytes here wouldve been browbeating the proles about something else in 2009 and will be browbeating the proles about something else in 2029. there's always that percentage that needs to be on a soapbox wagging fingers at everyone else, god bless them.
Dave_The_Sheep wrote: » Opinions, however, are not facts. Climate change doesn't give a **** about your opinion. Scientists deal in facts. The scientific consensus* is overwhelmingly (97-98%) in favoure of the fact that climate change is man-made.
MrMusician18 wrote: » Anyone have any idea what the solutions are? The constraints are: not reduce standard of living Not rely on expensive technologies
MrMusician18 wrote: » The protests are about getting government's to take action to halt climate change. In the Irish context, the government have signaled that carbon tax is going to be a key part of their climate policy. The protests are therefore about getting the government to implement the tax. Indeed let's think about the car situation. As I have already outlined, increases in the price of fuel have demonstrably little effect on both demand and emissions. The price of fuel has increased by at least 35% since it's ten year low and emissions have increased since then. Carbon is clearly not price sensitive in the range we are currently priced in. You rightly point out, driving is already expensive therefore people drive because they have to, not because they want to. The average car, iirc is driven some 20k km. Using the kind of efficiency I get myself a carbon tax increase of 5c/l would amount to just under €55/yr. That is simply not enough to change behaviour, but a nice little boost for the government all under the green cloak. The tax would quite frankly need to be 5 to 10x that to have the desired effect of effectively pricing people out of their cars. That would of course have consequences such as increased poverty and lower economic growth. Is this what you want? To price the poor out of their cars? Standard of living is about having access to services and having money to spend on the things you want and need. A tax that diverts your disposable income away from that lowers your standard of living.
Thelonious Monk wrote: » The solution is lowering our standard of living. We cant continue as is, even if climate change is a hoax like you all say, the way we are living now means the earth will be depleted and polluted beyond repair sooner or later. Why is it so scary to every one that they may have to live with less choice of crap that we consume?
jackboy wrote: » Whatever about us in the west reducing our standards of living who is going to tell the Chinese,Indians and Africans to stop increasing their standards of living and go backwards. It’s not realistic.