Environment & Energy
In reply to the discussion: Jevons: a 19th Century Zeno [View all]NoOneMan
(4,795 posts)Hell, a hybrid uses less gas so of course a society full of them is going to emit less emissions! We don't even have to do the math! Its self-evident logic!
But in reality land, all I see is a global economy that is infinitely growing and emitting carbon at a level that--even if more efficient than a worse case scenario--is a danger to all life on earth. But we keep pretending, as we did for the last 30 years, that discussing the "goodness" of efficiency innovation/production is as silly as gravity and we need to keep plugging ahead, growing the economy with production of the latest, greatest.
In my opinion, the notion of expanding the economy with the production of innovative products to eventually lead to less consumption is entirely meaningless and unsupportable. Its what we've been doing. Where is that magic point? Why isn't it working? Is efficiency even relevant to our problem, insofar as we continue to produce and grow? Is it merely leading us to can-kick and feel better about our growing production?