Why Americans don't care about climate change. An interesting theory.

There is no perfect answer to climate change, considering the earth is overpopulated. It takes massive amounts of energy to sustain the lives of so many people, we will always have an impact on the environment. This, along with what others have said about the drastic changes to American infrastructure, lifestyle, and mindset needed to considerably lower our carbon footprint, leaves most in an apathetic state towards climate change.

That said, I'm a fan of geothermal and nuclear energy over wind and solar for weaning off the big fossil fuels.

Do you literally believe this is true?

there is definitely a disconnect between what a majority of green energy activists push vs how they live their daily lives. Money is being made at the top absolutely. The one poster earlier talking about the glass jar and the plastic hiking boots. Even the bikers/walkable city people probably don't realize that concrete production is a top perpetrator in carbon emissions.

I'd agree with this and extend it to humans in general. Global warming is a slow moving problem by human timescale standards so it's easy to postpone action on. Moreover, it's inherently a collective problem and humanity doesn't have a great record on international cooperation toward a common goal. We're a social species but pretty tribal on multiple levels.

Thus it's pretty easy for people to rationalize why they should not be concerned. There's lots of that going on in threads like this one.

This doesn't mean global warming isn't a real problem and that people and ecosystems, probably mostly non-wealthy westerners in the near term, aren't going to have hardships that could have been mitigated by earlier actions.

The difference between the US and Europe on issues like race and indigenous peoples is that in the US, our colonialism was internal and in Europe the colonialism was external. Slavery, segregation and the genocide of Native Americans are all just aspects of internal US colonialism. In Europe, they got rid of slavery long before the US did and did not have a native/indigenous population that was removed to make way for Europeans, but European colonialism did that in many countries in African and Asia. The immigration crisis in Europe is a direct result of that. So, both the US and Europe grapple with the same after effects of colonialism.

The US has been more resistant to addressing climate change because the US has a hyper individualistic approach to capitalism. This caused the US to be built with cities that sprawled out with suburbs for 20-30+ miles from the urban core. Up until the past 20 years, most southern US cities were built with an urban core that was nothing more than a financial/business hub with all the residential development in the suburbs. And these cities were built without any meaningful rail system. So, very few people in the US live where they can get around without needing a car. In Europe, it is almost completely the opposite. Most people live in dense urban centers where there is an extensive public transportation network that will get you not only from one side of the city to another, but from one city to just about any other in Europe.

An argument can be made that as a country becomes richer it moves to cleaner fuels and reduces emissions.

We are really close to 1973 levels of CO2 emission while using a lot more energy and having a larger population.

statista.com

U.S. CO2 emissions by year 2023 | Statista

CO₂ emissions in the U.S. have reduced by more than 17 percent when compared to 2005 levels to less than five GtCO₂ per year.

Open link

Climate change is way down the list of concerns in almost every country in the world. Largely because individuals can do very little about it. My contribution of turning off my lights (more out of being cheap) really is not adding much. I buy a pretty fuel efficient car (although I want something different for my next car).

Also, it is not something that daily affects most Americans. We get a heat wave burst once in the summer (and this has happened for a long time) and then it breaks and we move on.

Also for me, I think that smart people will develop better technology (and hey we have!) to reduce emissions.

What do you think is the ideal population for the planet? Erhlich and other idiots were saying this in the early 70s and guess what: the standard of living around the world has improved!

Ignoring all the science, studies and empirical observations to promote your agenda of...whatever denial and conspiracy-mongering is promoting!

Wheres the benefit in promoting conspiracy fear (who's promoting fear?!)

and wheres the harm in caution and care in the interest of humanity and the planet?

Ignoring all the science, studies and empirical observations to promote your agenda of...whatever denial and conspiracy-mongering is promoting!

Wheres the benefit in promoting conspiracy fear (who's promoting fear?!)

and wheres the harm in caution and care in the interest of humanity and the planet?

Scientists' careers — whether they're in academia or the federal government — are bankrolled by federal government, or more specifically, 𝒕𝒂𝒙𝒑𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓-𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅, research grants.

You will not see a penny of grant money if you underplay the "man made" climate storyline.

So they all play along so they can pay their bills.

Smart individuals can see that any effort that would reverse climate change would completely destroy the economy, cause mass starvation and death and would be worse than any effects of climate change itself.

The science isn't as strong as you believe, my friend.

In ten years we will be completely out of all fossil fuels!

200k

I might not be alive in 10 years and 200k would make a big difference to my life right now

Yea, exactly. Additionally, trying to walk, bike, or take public transportation in most American cities is a nightmare or nonexistent. We simply don't have alternatives available to driving everywhere.

This is not a convincing argument for anything. For example, you will also not see a penny of grant money if you claim that earthquakes are caused by aliens directed by fairies, or maybe that electricity all comes from the moon.

However, I am fairly certain that many scientists can go to work for a giant oil company and make quite a bit more lucre finding oil, or maybe helping to combat press about fossil fuel effects.

In 10 years every polar bear will be dead!

Simple: I've got mine, Jack.

Native-born Americans get married less and less and have hardly any kids anymore anyway, so it's not like they care what things will be like for their nonexistent grandchildren.

Al Gore is why Americans don’t care about climate change. It became a political issue.

If Rush Limbaugh had been the first to tout climate change, and it became a big Fox News talking point, and democrats decided to downplay it as a way the rich wanted to stick it to the poor, then the tribes would be reversed.