re: #110 Justanotherhuman

In fact, I’d say that the current “ideal” of a 5,000 sq ft house on an acre of land and multiple personal vehicles for 2-4 people is a foreign concept, albeit perhaps an attractive concept, to the majority of the world’s population which would see it as real wealth.

This is what I was alluding to in my #102. The American ideal of a single-family detached house with a grassy yard and a two-car garage is not sustainable in the long run without significant changes in urban planning and transportation designs.

But Americans are not the only culprits. China, for example, burns a profligate amount of coal for electricity as it tries to catch up economically to the developed world. Buildings here are not insulated at all, so the electric heat pumps most urban dwellers use to cool and heat their flats and condos are wasting power. Rural dwellers burn coal and wood for cooking and heat, which further adds greenhouse gases.

The kind of radical lifestyle changes that would be required to slow down or reverse global warming are just not going to happen in time, I fear. There are too many economic and social pressures in play.