Any thoughts on the "Green Deal"

[The Feral Slasher]

So you apparently endorse:
the government takeover of the fossil fuel industry
"enlisting" the greatest minds to focus on something they may not have any interest in
government forcing and determining the foods we eat
government elimination of meat food markets in favor of other foods that you are more in favor of.


So to clarify - you are a Socialist and want the government to run everything - am I understanding?

I thought we agreed based on your suggestion in the Amazon thread to call this "Pragmatic Libertarianism"

[Sour Masher]

The truth is gonna end up somewhere in the middle of the end times fears expressed by TW and some others here and the deniers who don't think we are having all that big an impact on the environment, like ijay, chance, BG etc. Much like the stupidity happening with Brexit right now, we could avert a catastrophe if we took radical action now, but we won't,because politicians are craven and as a species we are short-sighted and dumb. But this won't lead to an end of our species; not even close.

I cringe when I hear people get that dramatic with it, because it allows people on the right to dismiss real climate change fears as hysteria. But what will happen is massive damage to delicate ecosystems like our reefs, which are already seeing the negative effects of our behavior. Massive damage to coastal cities will follow. Droughts, floods, famine. New deserts where once farmable land was. People moving out of borderline places that are now already almost too hot to live. Massive displacements globally from near deserts and coasts. Life in general is gonna suck more for most people in most places, and many will die. Then and only then will we end up caring about this enough to make changes that will be too late to help lots of people, but will stem the tide enough for us to soldier on. Life will continue, maybe a few thousand species that don't adapt fast enough less than we have now, but eventually new species will emerge adapted to the new environment. But we won't be one of the ones that go extinct. We are far too resilient. It is still gonna suck, though. I wish we weren't so dumb as a species, but we often have to learn things the hard way.

[baldgriff]

Humans are a virus - Agent Smith "The Matrix"

[DMT]

But we won't be one of the ones that go extinct. We are far too resilient.

I don't think this particular opinion is any more valid than the doomsayers. We simply don't know how bad it's going to get, and models are continuously being updated as new data emerges.

[Sour Masher]

Humans are a virus - Agent Smith "The Matrix"

Lucky for us, we are a virus that is hard to wipe out. We sure are trying to do that to ourselves, but I ultimately think we will fall short, despite our best efforts.