What's the worst thing that can happen ??
I've been wondering.... Everyone always talks about the difficulties associated with moving to a carbon constrained economy and makes it appear as if this will somehow destroy the economy and life as we know it. Yet to me this argument doesn't seem to hold much sway. Okay certain sectors - like the coal industry - will undoubtedly suffer, but
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Our wonderful consumer society is set up to create - and expect - more and more of it's customers. My upbringing was different, and of course, I admire the values of our fore-parents. I find it hard to understand how it is that people up their expectations, go into more debt and yet never question whether it is truly the road to happiness? Give me a small, energy efficient and well designed home any day. As for consumables: recycle and reuse!
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We have run this experiment to some extent--the 1973 oil shock, which ushered in about 10 years of poor economic performance. (Though the still unexplained drop in productivity growth that occurred at that time also mattered: what the interaction was we are still not sure.) Lots of unemployment, change in political direction (Thatcher, Reagan, Lange, Hawke in the Anglosphere). And smaller experiments--the alumunium smelting industry essentially moved from Japan to Oz because of energy prices.
Obviously, the effects would be worst on the most marginal, they always are. The biggest sufferers from 1973 and after were low-skill workers, young folk and (especially) people in badly run developing countries. The view that "economic growth does matter that much" tends to be one from the comfortable middle class.
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Work smarter, not longer.
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