[rficcaglia]

IMO, looking for a high tech solution to a low tech problem is a dead end (possibly in the literal sense!)

This is a human behavior problem. Consume less; ie growth at all costs is not a long term strategy for the planet. Don't define your happiness with things.

I was reviewing the US tariff lists and was thinking, what if all these items were just completely unavailable forever? I couldn't find any examples in the list of products I absolutely must have to thrive. Think of all the carbon saved (and landfill, and ocean plastic, etc) in producing all this stuff.

Maybe algae in the Sahara will be a silver bullet, but I'm not holding my breath.

I would instead spend resources educating and supporting farmers on sustainable agro, support a transition from a consumer-driven economy to one that is sustainable (also probably education). Promote/support sustainable, local plant-based diets. Etc. I'm happy to invest in scalable solutions in these areas!

[Vomzor]

>The size of the “global middle class” will increase from 1.8 billion in 2009 to 3.2 billion by 2020 and 4.9 billion by 2030. The bulk of this growth will come from Asia: by 2030 Asia will represent 66% of the global middle-class population and 59% of middle-class consumption, compared to 28% and 23%, respectively in 2009, according to the figure below

http://oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/3681/An_emerg...

How realistic do you think it is that people that have just escaped poverty will give up their new lifestyle? Technology is the only solution. It really baffles me that HN is a place where people think technology is the answer to all problems... except for climate change.

[mikekchar]

Culture is not universal. Although many people in the world aspire to an American style life, each culture has it's own roots. Appealing to those roots is probably important in guiding people to a different, but not worse, way of living.

For example, in many parts of South East Asia people avoid heating and air conditioning. It's considered unhealthy to over manage your environment in that way. Where I live, in Japan, I've always thought it was really unfortunate that western clothes became popular -- for most of the south western portions of the country it really is a under performing choice. If, when Japan was transitioning from a poor country to a rich country, an emphasis was made to prefer native clothes which are better suited to the climate, it would have made a significant difference in how people acted.

There will always be a subset of the population that are going to want the American utopia of a detached, climate controlled bungallo full the the brim with furniture and gadgets, but it doesn't need to be the goal of the entire population -- even if they want a comfortable and rich lifestyle. Appealing to the existing culture is a good way to get people to appreciate a different way of living.

[mytailorisrich]

Your comment contains one of the root causes of our problems but states it as a given and focuses on the consequences instead.

Population explosion is badly overlooked when looking at climate/environmental issues.

[rficcaglia]

I don't think it matters what anyone thinks. The reality will hit the poor hardest. Those of us who ignore the root causes, continue the same behaviors and expect different results, and look for some magical solution are culpable.

I sincerely hope you are right and there is some wonderful tech solution to this. Meanwhile I am not buying land 90m from current sea levels.

[mlthoughts2018]

It reminds me of optimal philanthropy. For example one of the most effective ways to donate money towards mitigating climate change is to give to The Humane League for sheer outreach & promotional materials on becoming a vegetarian (even if animal welfare itself is not important to you).

Super boring low-tech thing like sending out flyers & sharing videos of animal welfare in industrial farming turns out to be hugely efficient in terms of CO2 reduction per dollar.

https://animalcharityevaluators.org/charity-review/the-human...

https://animalcharityevaluators.org/blog/top-animal-charitie...

[adrianN]

I agree that we shouldn't chase magical high tech solutions, but not for your reasons. We don't need high tech solutions, because we already have all necessary technology. It's just a matter of political will at this point. Wind, solar, batteries , electric cars, power-to-gas, home insulation, heat pumps; all this exists already. We just need to build a shitton of turbines and panels.