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Sat next to a fusion researcher once on a commuter train.

This particular line struck me: "When oil prices go up, so does money for fusion research"

Feels the same for sail and cargo ships.

So much of our economy is local maxima and path dependencies. Plastic is so cheap because it's basically a byproduct of the heavily subsidized oil industry. When we drill for oil we always also get ethane which companies would have to pay exorbitant amounts to get rid of in compliance with environmental standards. Turning it into plastic and other petro products is a great alternative

In a world that didn't do this much oil drilling, plastic wouldn't always be the cheapest option. In fact virgin plastic is often taxed even lower than recycled plastic to encourage plastic usage

Sails have an immediate operational cost reduction that should add up to a future net savings. Fusion research has no immediate benefit.

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