Excellent discussion as always, Dave. But I find it a bit ironic that you both talk about "system solutions" yet leave out the most important part of the system: people. Surely, a system solution to meet ever-growing energy demand can't just address the supply side and leave out the demand side, which is driven by people that in turn dri…
Excellent discussion as always, Dave. But I find it a bit ironic that you both talk about "system solutions" yet leave out the most important part of the system: people. Surely, a system solution to meet ever-growing energy demand can't just address the supply side and leave out the demand side, which is driven by people that in turn drive a consumption-based economy. In other words, shouldn't we at least acknowledge that people are part of the problem and potentially part of the solution? Or by euphemistically calling it "lack of political will," we absolve people of individual responsibility?
The point at the end of the conversation was that consumers aren't demanding electrons from coal, but "a corridor that isn't dark" and we have many ways to satisfy that individual demand that our corporations and regulations capture for fossil fuel interests to the detriment of us all.
If we're pushing on people to vote better, yeah here for it. If we're pushing on people to stop demanding the thinner iPad or to make our preferred individual consumption choices in their day to day life... we're pushing on the end of the rope. Bill McKibben's "individual action" works through collective divestment pressure on the individuals who control endowments. That's not an individual consumption tactic, because in large part demand is created by businesses/regulations/systems. There is no latent demand for a 7,000lb EV that crab-walks, or another 'truck' that can't get wet.
Does an end user even know that those biodegradable utensils are worse for the environment than plastic ones? Who has the depth of chemistry and supply chain knowledge to over-rule marketing, green enthusiasm, and the wisdom of crowds? Yes, we should be washing metal utensils or using wood for disposable, but a whole industry of doing good has sprung up around false hopes and that's not an individual's fault. We could look at the straw mania driven by a misleading narrative of the ocean garbage patch (was fishing nets, not straws). Individuals are being lied to regularly and lack the agency to change the system on their own. Today the consumer is the victim of our consumption economy, not the master of it.
Excellent discussion as always, Dave. But I find it a bit ironic that you both talk about "system solutions" yet leave out the most important part of the system: people. Surely, a system solution to meet ever-growing energy demand can't just address the supply side and leave out the demand side, which is driven by people that in turn drive a consumption-based economy. In other words, shouldn't we at least acknowledge that people are part of the problem and potentially part of the solution? Or by euphemistically calling it "lack of political will," we absolve people of individual responsibility?
Go ahead and look at the Sankey diagrams and point to individual choice for me.
https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/
The point at the end of the conversation was that consumers aren't demanding electrons from coal, but "a corridor that isn't dark" and we have many ways to satisfy that individual demand that our corporations and regulations capture for fossil fuel interests to the detriment of us all.
If we're pushing on people to vote better, yeah here for it. If we're pushing on people to stop demanding the thinner iPad or to make our preferred individual consumption choices in their day to day life... we're pushing on the end of the rope. Bill McKibben's "individual action" works through collective divestment pressure on the individuals who control endowments. That's not an individual consumption tactic, because in large part demand is created by businesses/regulations/systems. There is no latent demand for a 7,000lb EV that crab-walks, or another 'truck' that can't get wet.
Does an end user even know that those biodegradable utensils are worse for the environment than plastic ones? Who has the depth of chemistry and supply chain knowledge to over-rule marketing, green enthusiasm, and the wisdom of crowds? Yes, we should be washing metal utensils or using wood for disposable, but a whole industry of doing good has sprung up around false hopes and that's not an individual's fault. We could look at the straw mania driven by a misleading narrative of the ocean garbage patch (was fishing nets, not straws). Individuals are being lied to regularly and lack the agency to change the system on their own. Today the consumer is the victim of our consumption economy, not the master of it.