I was just commenting on Telemetry 090630 and I realized my comment was worthy of it’s own post. Kai and I are a few steps past this now, but you can’t practice fundamentals too much.
> It seems, for ideological reasons as he won’t fly in a jet due to it’s carbon footprint.
> I can respect his convictions though I don’t fully adopt them as my own.
It’s all Jeff Gibb’s fault! Well, Al Gore too, but for opposite reasons. I ramble about this all over the site, start with these dubious calculations…
https://www.ondesire.movie/2009/06/13/on-jets/
At the risk of ranting, here’s my riposte. I can’t count on governments or corporations to do what’s right by me and by the earth. The only way to change anything is to get conscious and take personal responsibility for my actions – identify my most harmful behaviors and stop doing them.
The ends don’t justify the means. On Desire is not a worthy project if we have to act in destructive ways to accomplish it. Unless you are Kai Schwarz, getting to Hawaii sustainably ain’t easy. He can do it because he’s got the skills and knowledge to get on boats or sail his own. I could probably get on boats by leveraging my production skills and starting earlier on the research.
Granted, there are cruise ships that make the passage a few months out of the year, but because there is theoretically less carbon footprint riding a cruise ship, the cash cost is higher! Most folks who want to go to Hawaii HAVE to ride jets. Hawaii’s tourist industry is a frikkin’ carbon factory.
Sustainability isn’t an abstract concept. What does a small footprint look like? For one thing, it’s small!