From a logical perspective, Montana now needs to declare war on China and India. The US' CO2 emissions have been falling for a long time, now at levels of the 1950s.
Pritzker's nuclear ban also means Montana invading a fellow state.
Pritzker's nuclear ban also means Montana invading a fellow state.
The US in 2021 emitted 4,700 Mtons of CO2.
The EU in 2021 emitted 2,700 Mtons of CO2.
China emitted nearly as much CO2 than the US and EU combined.
The US' CO2 output peaked in 2000, with 6000 Mtons, has been steadily declining ever since.
We're not going to get China to agree to meaningfully lower emissions without doing proportionally much more ourselves. That's the reality.
Plus all those historical emissions are still around, heating up the planet, so we still bear responsibility for them. What you're advocating for is making the last guy to use the bathroom clean it up, when in fact many people have been befouling it for weeks before this guy even got there. And we have a pretty good idea of who those other people were and what they did. If the objective is a clean bathroom, I guarantee you pinning it on the last guy will not get it done.
At this point I put anyone who says "But what about China/India/Nigeria?" in the same camp as climate change deniers. It's just a different excuse to pass blame and guarantee nothing gets done, which is the point.
We either agree on practical solutions at scale, or we don't.
Social justice is another topic.
> Social justice is another topic
It's about practicality, not social justice. Put it bluntly: China (and India) won't accept a solution they feel is unfair. If you really want them to do something, fairness is not optional.
Go back to my analogy. You're saying "The bathroom doesn't care who cleans it, it just has to be done". But the people who would be doing the clean care very much and that ultimately determines if the bathroom is cleaned at all. Either you don't understand this basic point - which means you don't understand anything about human nature, and should therefore re-evaluate all of your opinions on public policy - or you're putting your head in the sand deliberately because you don't want to lift a finger yourself.
> We either agree on practical solutions at scale, or we don't.
So what are the practical solutions? Because telling China, or India "Stop industrializing right now!" so Americans can keep driving SUVs will simply not work.
India is not. Partnering with them on nuclear, incentives on transport and supply chain would pay off massively. Same is true for EU, which is all over the place - Finland builds reactors, the Germans go "green" by burning brown coal.
And then there are the hardcore solutions around SO2, which just got airtime due to the discovery of clean shipping and the massive backfire on ocean temps. Pump that thing into the atmosphere, buy time.
Also ban all private air travel.
At least we agree on something, cheers
Why does the west love to rip ourselves to shreds over non-issues? Our enemies aren’t half as dedicated as we are.
Nothing Montana does has a measurable effect on global climate change.
I can do things to make my state better, China is distant and far more powerful than even the Big Sky state.