> IMO Taylor Swift flying in a private jet isn't that different than, say, OpenAI making a bunch of CO2 for a product that millions of people end up using
I actually chose that example partly because there's an immediately actionable lower-carbon substitute: flying first-class on a normal commercial flight.
But that same logic can apply for many people and our lifestyles... why not take the train across the country instead of flying? Why not arrange carpools to/from work, or take the bus and subway? Why not stop eating meat? Ride your bike more often? Turn up the AC by 5 degrees? It's just a losing battle... imo we're genetically disinclined to do things that may vaguely benefit the species as a whole over a period of 20 years when the alternative benefits ourselves in the here and now. Maybe we celebrate that sort of altruism precisely because it's so rare and difficult for most people to do.
That's why I think steering the market towards better alternatives using a not-so-invisible hand works better than trying to coerce (or even convince) people into behavior change.
> But that same logic can apply for many people and our lifestyles... why not take the train across the country instead of flying? Why not arrange carpools to/from work, or take the bus and subway? Why not stop eating meat? Ride your bike more often?
Some people feel the whole "why not stop eating meat and ride a bike" narrative is PR by huge polluters like coal power plants and private jet owners, hoping to shift responsibility away from themselves.
Even if that's true, what does it change? We can't just regulate fossil fuels away without alternative infrastructure and markets in place. If we shut down all the coal tomorrow (or even just the private jets), whichever government forces that through is going to get voted out ASAP if they're lucky, murdered in their sleep if they're not. The laws would never survive more than a few months.
I don't disagree that big fossil fuel companies and billionaires are evil. But their evil has the tacit (and often explicit) approval and support of millions, if not billions, of average individuals who value their own comforts and convenience more than our collective well-being. Sure, not everyone's like that, but enough are such that unpopular punitive climate programs don't really have a chance of surviving long enough to matter.
That's not a matter of blame accounting, just humans being humans, a much harder problem to solve...
I actually chose that example partly because there's an immediately actionable lower-carbon substitute: flying first-class on a normal commercial flight.