Climate Change (General Discussion) You're suggesting an alignment by the rich north to impose economic sanctions on China and Russia in the hopes of altering their behavior and bringing them in compliance with Western economic policy. Seems like a hostile approach that might result in worse immediate outcomes than the long range consequences of global warming.
Looking at this the other way, would the US alter its policies based upon Chinese tariffs, or would it double down on the idea of achieving economic independence? I tend to think the latter, which just means that I don't think we can expect to force our opposition to our way of thinking by withholding some of the things they want. — Hanover
There's nothing hostile about raising levies on certain types of products or products from certain countries. This already happens with anti-dumping duties and tax treaties or in attempts to steer consumer choices. Obviously, changing consumer choices through tax discentives/incentives is not an exact science but I doubt solar panels would have been as popular now without them.
This accepts my premise, which is that we're on an inevitable collision course. If that is the case, maybe focus all our attention right now on finding methods to adapt and allowing climate change to continue occurring at its current pace.
For example, if the water is spilling over the dam, we could throw bags on there to give us ten years (instead of five) to figure out how to protect the village below before the dam fully collapses or we could just start figuring out how to protect the village right now in anticipation of the dam fully collapsing in five years. That is, do I want 10 years of expensive, futile labor or 5 years of status quo, followed by the same outcome that I more quickly prepared for.
We could argue over which idea is best, but they are both reasonable alternatives. — Hanover
I don't think the analogy works because buying more time usually consists of protective measures and as such this is not really mutually exclusive. More like which combination of measures is the most effective. I think a lower energy dependence for production and services, which directly correlates to CO2 levels, is both environmentally and economically sound
if the increased efficiency doesn't lead to higher usage. A lower dependence will mean you're less likely to be affected by disruptive economic events (wars, sanctions, etc.).
That's just unfortunately not the case. It's why there is war all over the world. I'd like to think we could sit down with Russia, China, North Korea and whoever else and work through all this. If we could do that, then we'd resolve issues far more pressing than climate change as well. — Hanover
But historically it has. There are a multitude of multilateral treaties that prove even enemies will agree on all sorts of things. WTO, UN, Geneva and the Hague conventions, Vienna Convention on the laws of treaties, Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, etc.