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But if the point is to deter people from flying, it wouldn't work very well - unless it was a very big tax. And how many of these top 1% are politicians who'd likely just charge it back to their country anyway?
hehe ... oh yes, I see what you mean - I was focusing on tax revenue to fund renewables!
But hopefully if the prices were increased sufficiently on a progressive scale, companies (and govts) would move further towards virtual meetings.
This is yet more grim reality (fullsize image) ... climate change really needs to be featured in the first half of every news bulletin for the next decade.
https://twitter.com/jasonhickel/status/1637809317758873604?s=20
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190304-human-evolution-means-we-can-tackle-climate-change
... and some lighter relief to reach a wider audience (swearies) ...
JOIN A PROTEST
The Big One is coming up on April 21 to 24
Everyone is welcome outside Westminster to make a (peaceful) noise.
This is a good exec summary >
1 - Overshoot - there is little chance of keeping warming to the previously agreed global target of 1.5C. The world has already warmed by 1.1C and is very likely to breach 1.5C in the 2030s.
Overshooting could trip irreversible tipping points, such as the melting of permafrost that would in turn release vast amounts of warming gases. We will need carbon capture to pull CO2 from the air.
2 - Keep it in the ground - there's no future for coal, oil and gas on a liveable planet. Renewables are now cheaper, so sticking with fossil fuels may be more expensive than switching to low carbon systems.
3 - The power is in our hands to cut ~50% of projected 2050 emissions - plant-based diets, avoid flights, walkable and bikeable cities.
4 - Our actions now will resonate for thousands of years. Sustained warming of 2-3C will melt the Greenland and Antarctic ice-sheets completely and irreversibly.
5 - It's all politics - IPCC reports are agreed with governments and research scientists. The EU supports the phasing out all fossil fuels, and the UN needs to agree.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-65013560
How does it work when to make renewables you need these things?
You need to use a little intelligence. They obviously mean as sources of energy.
How do they know its irreversible I wonder?
A couple of things called 'science' and called 'mathematics'.
And it's only irreversible from a human perspective. The planet goes through hot/cold cycles over very large periods of time, so it will encounter many ice ages before the sun engulfs it.
It's unlikely that humans will survive that long.
in another 10/20 years you have to assume it will get better?
Sure, but the problem as you said is that we are moving too slowly. Obviously, no one is going to switch off the oil/gas taps overnight, but we need some strong, committed world leaders to push things forward. Stop the millions of $$ of global oil subsidies, and invest that money in renewables. Oil needs to be priced out, and renewables are getting better and cheaper every year.
As the global temperatures increase, the UK & EU will have things OK as a whole - what's a couple of extra degrees between friends? But no one really knows how badly things like sea level rise and changes in the gulfstream (for example) will start to affect us, and when.
Increasing temperatures in Africa and Asia will be far more serious - widespread droughts will lead to mass migrations as people move to more hospitable regions. There really is no positive way to spin that.
One thing we can hope for is the US to elect another Dem leader - apparently, the USA will continue to get escalating extreme weather events, that should hopefully open people's eyes, not just in the gas-guzzling US but also globally.
Excellent 5 mins from Monbiot (@Jez: it's not all doom & gloom - there are workable solutions given!) >
The main problem is just how rich and powerful Big Oil is globally.
So many politicians get sucked in, paid off and sucked off (?) by Big Oil lobby groups, often shouting SUSTAINABILITY, when they are no more than complete greenwash.
The first push for “sustainable renewable fuels” was launched in 2016 by FuelsEurope, a trade association representing multinational oil and gas companies that has spent millions of euros on lobbying in Brussels.
Of course!
The more we travel to different countries and learn about the world, the more we realise we are all far more similar than we are different.
So this stuff happens in the EU as well, not just with our corrupt money grabbing goverment?
Jez, are you really so stupid that you need it explained to you every time something happens that is caused by non national actions and effects?
Can't you at least try and use the tiniest amount of intelligence to work these things out for yourself?
