An End to Climate Doomerism | Hacker News Reader

An End to Climate Doomerism

torturechambersmalltalk.substack.com

5 pointsloudtdarrow8 comments

> one thing is for certain — we don’t live in a world as dark as our worst fears.

At least until 2020, emissions have matched the worst case scenario analyzed by IPCC: https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2007117117

At the same time, the US has no greenhouse emissions taxes.

But let's just stop worrying and enjoy life. Let all polar species get replaced with tropical ones, and let the tropics become barren scorched desert. (this is mockery of the post)

I say: don't obsess over it, but do what is within your influence to steer towards a better future. For instance, my comment here coupled with an upvote to the post would maximize the exposure to potential US lawmakers.

How can I not obsess? The world might end if the gov. doesn't tax enough!

Pollution is a tragedy of the commons. Individually, polluters gain more than they suffer. But collectively, they suffer as well (though I admit it remains to be seen how much, since the IPCC reports on economic impacts leave a lot to be desired [1]).

It is the job of the government to maintain the commons, because it can't get maintained through individual incentives alone.

[1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34005635

Worrying about a reasonably well predicted end of the world won't stop it to happen. But systematically denying it, specially in the big numbers, well could accelerate the trends.

It is not about exactly when, or exactly how, but that it will happen, and is something that may probably happen this century rather than in a thousand years. And that it may have been a chance to avoid it if weren't for all the people denying it all this decades.

Climate change is real, but taxing people and yelling at them has led to a lot of people disconnecting.

I’m not sure how else to explain this to folks passionate about climate change, but telling people the world is going to end, calling them stupid for asking “are you sure?” and telling them to pull out their wallet - is not effective policy.

I’m sympathetic to your position. What would you suggest as a way to combat such a huge collective action problem?

Unfortunately I have no suggestions. Am not a policy expert nor do I know enough about collective human psychology. I’m simply pointing out that the current approach hasn’t been effective.

Then I have to disagree, because while you’re right that it’s led to a lot of people disconnecting, I think we’re making progress overall. So it is effective, maybe just not as much as some theoretically perfect approach that no one can think of and that we can’t afford to wait for.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com