Environment & Energy

zeemike

(18,998 posts)

13. And we could have addressed it then, if it were not for fear of change.

Fri Feb 22, 2013, 12:55 PM

Feb 2013

In 1969 I read a serious proposal to create a mas transit system that would not only make the auto obsolete as well as most air travel....and it was not a pie in the sky dream but a possibility then to do it....and that system would have reduced our consumption of oil dramatically...as well as eliminating auto deaths and traffic accidents.

But lets face it, The auto makers and the oil companies as well as all assorted industry was against such a thing and would make sure no proposal like that would ever see the light of day.
When profit is the sole motive for doing things not much will change.

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Highlight:

New Scientist - Major Methane Release Almost Inevitable - We're Likely A Few 10ths C Away [View all] hatrack Feb 2013 OP

Not to mention the possibility of Fireballs Demeter Feb 2013 #1

Oooh! Aaah! hatrack Feb 2013 #2

... phantom power Feb 2013 #3

"May stick to certain types of planets" hatrack Feb 2013 #7

Unfortunately the time we might have been able to address this was 50 years or more ago. GliderGuider Feb 2013 #4

excuse my tangent... phantom power Feb 2013 #5

Pretty much everything. GliderGuider Feb 2013 #9

no, I mean you are missing a word in your sig line phantom power Feb 2013 #11

D'oh! GliderGuider Feb 2013 #12

"Is that understandable?" mcranor Feb 2013 #15

Question, ... do you consider energy seeking behavior, ... CRH Feb 2013 #23

No, it's everything from gathering wood for a fire to planting vegetables and smelting iron. GliderGuider Feb 2013 #29

And we could have addressed it then, if it were not for fear of change. zeemike Feb 2013 #13

Actually, we couldn't have. GliderGuider Feb 2013 #14

While that is an interesting observation. zeemike Feb 2013 #17

This is why I say that people steeped in humanism will have a very hard time with the idea. GliderGuider Feb 2013 #18

Actually, I'll walk that back a bit. Almost everybody will have a hard time with it. nt GliderGuider Feb 2013 #19

I understand it. zeemike Feb 2013 #20

As you say, GliderGuider Feb 2013 #21

First it is the individuals, then it is society. zeemike Feb 2013 #22

That's the fundamental misperception of how change happens. GliderGuider Feb 2013 #25

Well that is an interesting perspective. zeemike Feb 2013 #34

I agree, this is Koyaanisqatsi. GliderGuider Feb 2013 #35

We could've maybe done it 20 years ago. joshcryer Feb 2013 #27

It might have been physically possible 20 years ago. GliderGuider Feb 2013 #30

We humans tend to usually act in response to catastrophe. joshcryer Feb 2013 #31

Yep, that's the way it works. GliderGuider Feb 2013 #32

Foom! nt Javaman Feb 2013 #6

Election meltdown small potatoes? Bernardo de La Paz Feb 2013 #8

If all this methane is released in the arctic austinlw Feb 2013 #10

My guess is that we start playing fast and loose with geo-engineering before it happens. Exultant Democracy Feb 2013 #16

I think it's easy to mis-underestimate pscot Feb 2013 #24

I think you entierly missed my point, it's just not going to be allowed to happen we will cheat. Exultant Democracy Feb 2013 #26

That's the point I was responding to pscot Feb 2013 #33

Geoengineering will only happen as a response to AGW. joshcryer Feb 2013 #28