alt Hacker NewsEnergy consumption per person also has a lot of room to grow. For every barrel of oil eschewed by a relatively rich person in the developed world, there are probably 3 or 4 ready to pickup the slack and increase their quality of life in the rest of the much poorer world.
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> there are probably 3 or 4 ready to pickup the slack and increase their quality of life in the rest of the much poorer world.
Don't forget that the developed world is falling over itself to bring in never-ending waves of people who normally would have far smaller carbon footprints if they just stayed where they were. It's hard for me to take serious any climate proposal that doesn't at least acknowledge this basic fact.
"But we need them, what about population decline in developed countries?" Yes, what about it? That also lowers carbon emissions.
Instead the pitch seems to be "look, we need infinity third worlders, you're just gonna have to do your part and stop eating beef or driving a car. And pay carbon taxes." Gee, why are people so up in arms over all this climate stuff?
This is like assuming people in africa need telephone lines strewn to every home in order to have telecommunications. The developing world doesn't need oil. It needs solar panels and ever cheaper batteries.