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Comment by realPubkey | Hacker News Reader

Or we just stop flying arround the world for two-day trips.

I think we should now be at a point where we realize that people won't give up these benefits to their lives "for the greater good". Convincing people to go green as a business model would be a huge failure - nobody would pay to get convinced to stop doing something convenient.

That is what I always say! Teslas, for example, are not becoming so popular because their owners are all environmentalists. They got so popular because they are extremely fun to drive and save on fuel a lot while not restricting their owner in range. I for example, recently reserved a Model 3, but I would not stop flying. But I would choose the airline that first provides me with a calmer and less smelly airplane any time. Ä

That's what pigouvian taxes and other steep carbon taxes are for

So make them pay for externalities, and you’ll see the necessary reduction.

Who exactly are "we" and how should they be stopped?

Flying around the world for two-day trips isn't something that the great majority of the human population will ever do.

Given the right technology, maybe we will!

Jetlag :( It's kind of sad that regardless of technology and money there is no way, and there might never be a way to just hop on from SF/Tokyo to Paris for a weekend and back, and enjoy it.

What if your biological clock could be speed up or slowed down with a pill ?

Or add a large tax to flying that pays for the development of green solutions.

This way only the super rich will be able to fly.

Only about half of people fly in any one year (in the US). You already need to be better off than the median.

I think it will reduce the amount of flights of average people, not eliminate them. Flying will become more special, that's for sure.

The whole flying experience was a lot better in the old days, when indeed flying was special.

Also, remember that still most people on this planet can't afford to fly (i.e., even under current conditions).

Finally, I wouldn't mind seeing less vacation pictures on Facebook, of the kind "look where I am now!"

How do you propose keeping something cheap while ensuring only a small amount is used? Rationing?

I remember when Obama said "Gas under a buck ain't bad" (paraphrased) and was dismayed - you cannot pursue the goal of making something cheaper and reducing it's consumption without something like rationing (or, I suppose, simply making an alternative which is profoundly superior and cheaper, but we haven't got that)

I would love to not travel to go meet a client on the other side of the world. Unfortunately that’s often how business still needs to be done to win over the decision makers.

with sufficient taxes, maybe the cost of doing business on the other side of the world would be too high and you would just lose this contract to a local competitor. With sufficient taxes, many trips will just no happen.

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