this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2023
331 points (98.5% liked)
Climate - truthful information about climate, related activism and politics.
5229 readers
507 users here now
Discussion of climate, how it is changing, activism around that, the politics, and the energy systems change we need in order to stabilize things.
As a starting point, the burning of fossil fuels, and to a lesser extent deforestation and release of methane are responsible for the warming in recent decades:
How much each change to the atmosphere has warmed the world:
Recommended actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the near future:
Anti-science, inactivism, and unsupported conspiracy theories are not ok here.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
It's also a chicken and egg problem. If nobody uses it there will also be no money or interest for improving it. It seems like a complex issue in the US.
However I feel that I must add that I'm from the country side in the Netherlands, and while there is public transport here, it is almost exclusively used by students, guest workers, and asylum seekers. So even though it is available, people still prefer the convenience of their own car. I also know people who are too lazy to cycle even just 10km, and they prefer to park right in front of the store. My point is just that even when it's there, and it's high quality and affordable, people still tend to avoid it purely for convenience or out of laziness.
In fact there used to be a train here over a hundred years ago, but it was removed. It seems a new one will be built soon as there is political will again from the greens.
Having visited the Netherlands, I have to say it's an incredibly beautiful country with amazing public transportation and some of the friendliest people I've met. I wish we could be more like that. Instead, I often find myself avoid public transportation because of how much slower it is (easily an extra hour of transportation), the fact it just doesn't usually go to where I need to go, and the risks associated with it (stabbings, stealing, etc) :(
It never ceases to amaze me how different the US is from western Europe. Especially how dangerous some places seem to be. Why would someone stab you on a bus for example?
I have to say you guys have amazing nature and I'd love to go hiking there some time.