Climate Change

[watervole]

 I've been sort of promising myself that I'd do a series of posts on saving energy and the like.  It's difficult, because when I'm stressed I find it very hard to deal with comments from climate change deniers.

I'm not sure if there are any reading my journal these days, but if you are, just consider this a series of posts on how to save money.  Almost anything that helps reduce carbon emissions has good chances of saving money as well.

It's the Paris conference now. Whatever governments decide is unlikely to be enough to save us from a 2C rise in temperature by the end of the century. It may/may not be enough to save us from a 4C rise.

I have a granddaughter.  This is the world she will inherit. 

Governments alone cannot do it, but if we  all act as individuals, then it becomes possible.

When did you last look at your carbon footprint?

There's a calculator here.

According to the calculator, I need 1.72 planets to maintain my lifestyle.  However, there are some  assumptions in the model that probably mean I'm a bit lower than that.  In particular, our household uses very little hot water (there was no question of how often you bath/shower/etc).  We also have solar panels (which don't generate masses but help a bit) and get all our electricity from renewable sources.  (About 5% of our gas is renewable and Ecotricity hope to increase that over time)
I've just realised that I didn't factor in food grown on the allotment, so that will be a small gain as well.

I doubt I can ever  get down to one planet, but I'm ahead of most of my friends.

The main reason is very simple, I haven't been on a plane since 2002.

I looked at the environmental cost and I quit. (I used to go to SF conventions in America, and I still miss the friends I made there)

Just one flight across the Atlantic emits as much CO2 per person as a typical year's driving.

I know many people (especially those with family overseas, for whom it's a particularly hard choice) who live very green lifestyles, but who continue flying.  It's the environmental cost people try to overlook, and there's enormous social pressure to overlook it.

I have one friend who did attempt to give it up, and was pushed back into it by social pressure from friends.  

Because the hard fact is that your friends will feel you're trying to guilt-trip them and they only way they can prevent that is by telling you that you're silly, that the plane will fly anyway, that you can offset the emissions, etc.

The truth is that the plane will use less fuel if you aren't on it (or won't fly at all if enough people decide not to go) and that carbon offsetting is often deeply flawed (I'll explain why if you want me to) and in any case does not remove the CO2 that you have emitted for that flight.

This is why I hate to post on environmental issues.  My friends get unhappy.  If I post about how to save energy with a new boiler, then no problem, but when it comes to flying, the vast majority of my friends fly, and those who have also chosen not to tend to keep quiet for exactly the same reasons that I do.

But, I have Oswin to think of.  And millions of other little Oswins with friends and family who love them.  I want them to have a future.  I don't want them to inherit a world with droughts, erratic water supplies, ruined soils, pollution, extreme weather, vanished wildlife.

I'm not an environmentalist because I hate people.

I'm an environmentalist because I love people.

Comments

[vicarage.livejournal.com]

The How Many Earths argument assumes you want all the all people on the planet to have your lifestyle. It might seem callous to deny them what you have, but it is callous to wish there were fewer of them, and instead of tutting about consumption, tut instead about reproduction.

I find myself reacting negatively when people talk about their 4 children, for example, whether they be western CEOs or subsistence farmers.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I fully intend to move onto family size at some point.

I think having more than two children is one of the most selfish things anyone can do.

We need to tackle both consumption and reproduction.

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

It's comments like that about reproduction that make it seem like some environmentalists hate people. :P

I'm all for cutting our carbon footprints, but I'm glad for every single one of my six siblings.

By the way, I am curious about your thoughts on flying when it is required for one's job--my husband has a job that is quite international and may require a good deal of flying as time goes on. On your (quite sensible) theory that flying is the worst thing for the environment, what would you do in such a situation?

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I love people and I'm one of five children. Our parents had the luxury of being able to have large families. We don't - the world is far more crowded now.

Flying for work related reasons is really difficult.

Where the option exists, I would say try and find a job that doesn't involve international travel. But work is finite and that luxury of choice is not always there. Where possible, international conference calls are great, but not everything be resolved by conference calls.

I'm slightly more forgiving of work-related travel. I don't like it, but there are less options than when it comes to holidays.

All I can say is that he should try and minimise the need for it whenever possible.

I can just about conceive a case where I might have to do work-related travel. Never needed to yet, but it might be the one exception to my rule of never flying.

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

I appreciate your reply very much--thank you for taking the time to respond so thoughtfully. My husband does conference calls several days a week, so the company is certainly already trying not to fly too much (saves money as well, I expect). We'll see what happens as he's there longer.