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Comment by superpermutat0r | Hacker News Reader

Still, emissions from planes are a tiny percentage of global output. Individuals should not share the burden if it's a handful of companies polluting the Earth.

You can also offset your footprint by buying land and planting trees. With some handkerchief math you'll be able to fly without any worries.

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And if all the people flying do that? Is there enough land and will they have sequestered enough CO2 to meet the 12 (now 11.5 year target)? What about if more people embrace their right to travel to expand their minds?

Well, maybe not everyone but you can.

I can. You can. My mate can. That's three of us. But if we all follow Rick Steves's suggestions and all fly to Bali to broaden our minds then there is a bit of a physical limit. Isn't there?

Or just not eating meat. :P

For a first world individual, highest impact is not heating/cooling or skipping on transcontinental flights. Meat production globally has a non trivial emissions output but for a first world individual, diet is maybe 10% of footprint. Without Hot Air book goes through these calculations.

Still, planting 1000 trees and making sure they exist for 40 years makes your footprint invisible.

I would imagine that most people would find it easier to not start travelling than to give up meat: but the most likely outcome is that they will do neither. Because all this will be solved by flying nuclear cars which will be the only transport used by the people that have not emigrated to Mars.

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