I know it won’t fix it, and this is hardly a comprehensive list. But I feel like there are some stupid-easy things Americans could do to reduce the harm. Just a few that come to mind:
- Don’t buy a big vehicle like a giant pickup truck unless you really need it. (A pavement princess for your ego is not a need).
- Book air travel as little as possible. Again, only if you truly need it.
- If you are growing something that requires a lot of water in an area that doesn’t get very much rain…stop doing that. (If you have some kind of closed loop water system, that’s an exception. But how many actually have that.)
- Telecommute if you can. If you can do your job from home and your boss won’t let you, it’s time to hunt for another job.
Americans don’t have the choice to do most of these things, or the choice to do most of anything.
They’re locked into a system, things are decided for them. There needs to be a change internally in America before these things can be changed. Honestly, I think the will to change these things is small, most Americans don’t know much beyond oxygen tanks and diabetes.
Americans don’t have the choice not to buy gigantic pickup trucks and SUVs? Gimme a break. I have never bought one, it’s not some kind of one weird trick thing, you just literally don’t fucking buy them and buy something smaller and cheaper instead.
Half the major auto manufacturers DONT MAKE ANYTHING SMALLER. Ford discontinued every model of sedan.
And that’s not getting into the whole “a brand new car starts at almost 30K on the low end” affordability issue.
I wish there was something like a kei truck available in the US with some modern crash safety features, and maybe a plug-in hybrid option.
Get a ford focus. Or, gasp a Toyota.
But don’t give me that argument, because it’s 100% bullshit.
There’s a world of difference in pedestrian safety between a RAV4 and a Suburban or F150. Just because they call an e.g. CX30 a crossover doesn’t mean it’s as dangerous as a full size pickup truck. Your affordability argument doesn’t even make any sense - smaller vehicles are cheaper than larger vehicles. If affordability is such an issue why don’t we see more crosstreks? The mental gymnastics to avoid blaming a bunch of fragile dudes for buying ridiculously pickup trucks is absurd.
It doesn’t matter if one is more affordable than the other if NEITHER IS AFFORDABLE IN THE FIRST PLACE. Double minimum wage (pre-tax, pre-bills) as a starting basic car price, is not affordable (No, i do not consider needing an auto loan “affordable”.).
A RAV4 is still a blunt-ended higher-sitting vehicle that puts pedestrians under a car rather than up and over like a sedan.
You’re right, 50k is the same as 30k, a 5ft tall hood is the same as 2.5ft, 40 mpg is the same as 20 mpg, and getting hit by a pickup is the same as a crosstrek. Look I ride a cargo bike most of the time and am very much fuckcars, but pretending like every since vehicle that isn’t a sedan is equally dangerous and polluting isn’t helpful.
I live in a red, suburban county. Almost every house in my neighborhood has a big ass pickup sitting in the driveway (because it won’t fit in the garage). Most of these dudes drive their giant pickups to work in an office building.
I asked one of them - an engineer - about it once. He said he works in an office but has to drive to job sites every once in a while, so he drives a truck. Keep in mind the dude does not do any manual labor on those job sites. But the people working there do - and he doesn’t want to feel left out.
I’d estimate that well over half the big ass trucks in America are driven by guys who want to fit it, but don’t actually need them. They’d be much better off driving something like a Nissan Leaf, but don’t want to get made fun of.
So you’re saying that millions of fragile men are bullied into buying full size trucks and they have no agency whatsoever into their purchase? This is no different than exposing your kids to second hands smoke because you are afraid if you don’t smoke you won’t look cool. I seriously don’t understand why we’re making excuses and coddling these weak egos instead of actually supporting the victims of the violence these people inflict on other road users. I’m more than happy to criticize the regulatory bodies and the manufacturers for failing society as well, but that doesn’t mean the purchasers that make this all possible are innocent. It’s a rotten subculture that needs to be called out at all levels.
Americans don’t have the choice to do most of these things, or the choice to do most of anything.
You have the choice what car to buy. You often have a choice of when you fly somewhere. I mean, you can always skip that California vacation and go camping somewhere local, I’m not asking you to skip your brother’s wedding.
That post also misses the biggest thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint. Eat less beef. Reduce the amount of beef you eat, substitute chicken or even pork, that will have a massive effect on your carbon footprint.
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Roughly one in two Americans said they are not very or not at all exposed to environmental and climate change risks. Those perceptions contrast sharply with empirical evidence showing that climate change is having an impact in nearly every corner of the United States. A warming planet has intensified hurricanes battering coasts, droughts striking middle American farms, and wildfires threatening homes and air quality across the country. And climate shocks are driving up prices of some food, like chocolate and olive oil, and consumer goods.
Something something 'muricans can’t name 5 different countries in a map
Americans also largely believe they do not bear responsibility for global environmental problems. Only about 15 percent of US respondents said that high- and middle-income Americans share responsibility for climate change and natural destruction. Instead, they attribute the most blame to businesses and governments of wealthy countries.
“Me driving a SUV that’s almost as big as a bus anywhere farther than 500ft from my home is not a problem at all!!” - average american, probably
“Me driving a SUV that’s almost as big as a bus anywhere farther than 500ft from my home is not a problem at all!!” - average american, probably
SUVs are passe at this point. The hip thing is to drive a super-duty V12 king cab truck with a constantly empty truck bed to the store.
As an American burgermeister, it’s also important to complain about the price of gas continually while doing this.
(For extra credit: be sure to idle for 50 minutes in an in-and-out or chik-fil-a line that spills out into the street and blocks traffic on your way home from the store.)
Speaking of naming countries… I saw this posted on lemmy a bit ago and love it. It’s a game where you have to name countries to get from one country to another.
Oh look, it’s the latest Big Company propaganda piece attempting to blame the average citizen for ruinous climate change that is pretty much solely on the back of corporate negligence and/or malice, because not being an evil douchebag costs the company 15 whole extra cents a year!
Vehicles as a whole are a lost sunken cause.
