| ▲ | lejalv 3 hours ago |
| A simple back of the envelope calculation shows that Felix causes between 70 and 110 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year just from flying. Paris accord says 1.5t per person per year, from all activities, Felix's flying alonre is ~10-15x current European yearly per person emissions and ~50-75x those compatible with +1.5C. |
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| ▲ | dansmith1919 an hour ago | parent | next [-] |
| That was my main takeaway as well. How do you do this without any shame? My man is emitting an amount of CO2 on par with an small African country |
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| ▲ | adamtaylor_13 an hour ago | parent [-] | | Most people don't spend a lot of time wistfully considering their CO2 usage, myself included. The religious zeal by which people feel the need to tell me about the ever-warming planet is honestly more off-putting than most actual religions. Of the very few "f*cks" I can give in my life, I prefer to spend mine as I choose rather than being scolded for not giving mine to the pressing issues that others deem important. | | |
| ▲ | nicbou 33 minutes ago | parent [-] | | The thing is that everyone alive today and in the future is footing the bill for that indifference. It's nice that you don't care, but it's not something I'd brag about. | | |
| ▲ | integralid 14 minutes ago | parent [-] | | I too don't want to be a martyr hermit who don't travel and consume just to cur my CO2 emissions in half, while someone else generates 10x of that living a full life. That's just dumb, and I consider this whole movement rich people telling poor people that they should be considerate and sacrifice themselves. If you truly care about the planet, don't have children. |
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| ▲ | crazygringo 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| If you want to reduce air travel for environmental reasons, then tax it more. Shaming individuals doesn't seem to be productive or helpful. Air travel works for people if the benefits outweigh the costs. The only thing that changes behavior is to change the costs. And even if costs were 10x there are still plenty of people who will fly tons, because it would still be economically productive. There are always going to be people who fly 10x more than others, because certain jobs and roles simply require it. |
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| ▲ | lukakopajtic an hour ago | parent | next [-] | | You wrote one of the solutions as if it conflicts with the other one. Let's raise the tax on an activity according to its negative side effects, while pointing out individuals that do a lot of it and dont take personal responsibility. | |
| ▲ | gnfargbl 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | > Shaming individuals doesn't seem to be productive or helpful. I don't see how much support from history for that viewpoint. Some examples of positive societal change driven in part by shaming individuals: drink-driving, civil rights, sexual harassment, automobile safety, the slave trade, McCarthyism. | | |
| ▲ | eightys3v3n an hour ago | parent [-] | | All those cases also have huge penalties or effective costs associated with them. Is there an accurate "shame first, then penalties came later" stand point? Automobile safety in my life has only changed after fines.
Sexual harrassment still happens and doesn't seem to be helped by shaming someone as much as firing them. Though we often don't have the guts or legal backing to publically shame someone. |
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| ▲ | singron 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| There is a section comparing flight emissions to US citizen average total emissions. This might make him feel good, but only 30% of an average American's emissions come from transportation and just a sliver from flying, so it's very likely his total emissions are much higher. |
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| ▲ | alex_duf 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Exactly, I stopped reading when I saw the flying stats. There are people who still haven't clocked where our climate is headed. I get that you may have to see family abroad or maybe indulge for a holiday, but this is "I'm using an airplane to commute" kind of level. And here I am trying to book my train tickets to go to London instead of flying even though it costs three times as much just to avoid a few kg of CO2 (among other things), it's making me angry. |
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| ▲ | WarcrimeActual 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Surprise surprise. Felix is as rich and out of touch as most rich and out of touch people. | |
| ▲ | vladms 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Depends where you take the train to London, it is a much nicer experience anyhow than going to airports and people should consider that as well (ignoring climate stuff)! On the price, the very annoying thing is that fuel for planes is not taxed! Changing this would require quite some effort (falls under some specific laws, that are old and nobody wants to touch, etc.) but I think everybody should just ask "honest tax on fuels!" as this will make less people say (or thin) "but climate change is a hoax". Planes are just unfair competition to other transport due to taxes! | | |
| ▲ | zbentley 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | I agree re: fuel taxes, but it’s a complete nonstarter: passengers would be voting against their wallets, and airlines would lobby against it since it’s a vote against their business model. |
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| ▲ | criddell 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | > And here I am ... Reminds me of the soggy straw memes floating around now. I've been having those why bother? thoughts as well. | | |
| ▲ | gnfargbl 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | Eh, other people throw litter on the floor and rob elderly folks in their homes. Those people hardly ever get caught, but neither you nor I are are going to start copying their actions. | | |
| ▲ | criddell an hour ago | parent [-] | | I wasn't thinking about assaulting the elderly, but flying more often to see family and friends. |
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| ▲ | gardenhedge 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Isn't this a drop in the ocean? Why would any 'normal' person forgo flying? How much CO2 emissions have 'world leaders' produced going to summits, or Taylor Swift and her fans flaying to concerts or war flights? |
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| ▲ | Arn_Thor 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Couple of things: 1) NO ONE is suggesting any one forego flying altogether, or skipping their once-a-year overseas vacation or periodic family visit. 2) THIS level of flying is not normal and is exactly the kind of harmful behavior people have in mind when they complain about frequent flyers. 3) Whinging about summits and Taylor Swift is just a bad faith red herring argument. Obviously less flying is better, no matter by who. To the extent it's related to the topic at all, it bolsters the case for less air travel. | |
| ▲ | fxwin 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Why do anything for the greater good at all then? (Also there's a big gap between "forgo flying" and "fly every 2 weeks for 7 years") | |
| ▲ | mmooss 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Everything any one person does is a 'drop in the ocean'. Thankfully, we organize and do things collectively very well - it's in our fundamental nature going back to non-human ancestors, and there is a long, rich history of how much we accomplish. Alsmost nothing that has ever been accomplished has been done without a lot of people doing it together. | |
| ▲ | ainch 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | The general concern around Taylor Swift's emissions has always struck me as shortsighted. Her Eras tour is estimated to have generated around $5bn in economic uplift in the US, at an estimated 10,000 tonnes CO2e for her personal travel. Even if the total footprint is higher, that is thousands of times lower than the emissions intensity of an industry like fast fashion. From an environmental point of view, attending a Taylor Swift show is a much less carbon-intensive way to spend your money than ordering from Temu. | | |
| ▲ | duskdozer 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | People just want a scapegoat that allows them to say they have no responsibility |
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| ▲ | lezojeda an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
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| ▲ | carlosjobim 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
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| ▲ | glemmaPaul 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| yeah America treats flying as like taking a bus, so I am not at all surprised |
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