Yes, climate change is happening. Do most people who are not progressive westerners care? No. Can you convince them without bribing or bullying them? No. Does calling it an emergency make you look like a crazy person? Yes.
It's hard to argue that they're taking it terribly seriously when they continue building out massive amounts of coal power. They've got something north of 50% of the world's coal plants, and are stamping out more at an alarming rate.
Regardless of what they say, their actions would indicate that they're happy with other people being concerned about climate change, because then those people will buy Chinese panels, inverters, turbines, etc.
What's more, it's carbon intensity of production is bad, manufacturing something in China as opposed to a cleaner and more efficient country increases emissions. So it makes zero sense to give them subsidies that relatively disadvantage cleaner countries, as part of global efforts to reduce carbon.
It's the same as emissions per capita. That's actually worse than meaningless it's actively detrimental because rewarding that metric creates all sorts of perverse incentives around increasing population growth and restricting quality of life.
And I didn't bring up total emissions by country, I was replying to someone else who did. Apparently you weren't so concerned about it when it was wrongly claimed that China was the 2nd largest polluter.
Caring about the world, even invisible aspects of it, does not make anyone look crazy except to those that already are. Hopefully someone's crazy enough to do something to start fixing it.
Yes, of course they do.
When you get 95% [1] of your energy from hydro, in a region that experiences regular droughts, it's hard to miss.
[1] https://www.get-invest.eu/market-information/zambia/energy-s...
Africans care [0]
[0] https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2021/0407/Amid-pandem...
One important thing you should know, smart people are just as dumb as everyone else outside of their area of expertise.
This isn't what's indicated by worldwide polls. In fact it's in the US where most of the first world denialism is taking place; everywhere else, _especially_ amongst youth, it's a massive issue.
Citation needed.
> Can you convince them without bribing or bullying them? No.
Well most new carbon emissions in the developing world are going to be from economic progress. You're going to have to do something to convince them that they should care about climate change instead of feeding, sheltering, and clothing their children.
No. The crazy, irrational behavior is to ignore and downplay the emergency.
Do most people who are progressive westerners care - and by care I mean, "You can tell by their actions in life that they believe climate change is a very real problem"?
"Reposting something on social media about it, from their new 5G phone, connected to giant datacenters busy crunching their activity for improved targeting of advertising" doesn't really count.
How many have put their money where their mouth is? And, certainly, the answer is more than zero, but it's certainly not nearly as many as claim to care about it. Insert the usual excuses here about how it's systemic problems, and one person can't have an impact, and it doesn't matter how you live if you've voted for the right person, etc. It still leads to an awful lot of carbon emissions.
If you look at actual life actions, the snarky comment about how a Republican denies climate change and does nothing about it while a Democrat thinks it's the biggest problem facing the world and does nothing about it ends up looking awfully true.
You haven't provided any actual rebuttals to any of these, just "Yeah, yeah, you still emit carbon so I don't have to listen to you". By your standards the only action that's good enough is taking one's own life.
I'm sorry, I must have missed where I wrote that in my response.
I've met many left leaning progressives who view climate change as a very real problem, and the indications of it in their own lives are... well, entirely missing.
If you've got a net worth of comfortably north of a million dollars, live in a large home (say, 5000 sq ft for three or four people), commute an hour or two to work every day (in your new Tesla, of course - have to buy to be green!), and take a vacation via jet once or twice a year? I'm sorry, I don't believe that you really find climate change that much of a problem. And, practically, it's not going to be for someone in that position. You can buy your way out of most problems, climate change included. At most, it seems to be an excuse for socially valid consumption (back six or so years ago, "Yeah, I've got a preorder for a Powerwall and a Tesla Roof..." seemed a well regarded phrase among the excessive consumption class).
If someone states "Yeah, my house is on fire, it's a really big emergency..." as they're sitting on their couch watching TV with the kids asleep in their bedrooms, it's reasonable to conclude that they don't actually believe their house is on fire. And I apply the same logic to other things people are prone to claim are "huge emergencies." If they're getting the family out of the house, calling the fire department, and discharging a fire extinguisher at the base of the flames, yeah, they believe their house is on fire.
You're welcome to assume I care nothing about climate change if you want, though a reasonably quick survey of the other writings I've done on the internet would prove the absurdity of that statement, given the number of battery packs I've rebuilt, transportation choices, solar array builds, and my general (deliberate) lack of regular travel in my life. shrug
Pre-Covid and parenthood, I took one or two flights a year mostly to visit family. I think I've taken one pure pleasure trip overseas in my entire life. The only animal flesh I consume is chicken, maybe 3 meals/week. I buy carbon offsets for everything else.
Given all that, I'll still take the other "left leaning progressives with 5000 sq ft homes" over the people who deny that there's a problem at all. At least the progressives vote for politicians who'll do something. The other guys will consume the same amount as the limousine liberals, but their politicians won't do shit.
If we keep hoping for everyone in the world to start living like you or me, the world is doomed. Carbon taxes and other big actions are the only way. With carbon taxes, people will automatically pay extra for their massive homes and jet setting lifestyles, or be priced out.
No one cares for the sound and fury of the idiotic hypocrite.
Like Thunberg or not, at least she's very evidently trying, as well as she's able, to practice what she preaches.
If the millions of narcissists that can only manage to tell others how idiotic they are could commit in the same way, they’d maybe actually see the change they want as they’d be an inspiration to others.
Rules for thee but not for me.