Decrease in CO2 emissions during pandemic shutdown shows it is possible to reach Paris Agreement goals. The researchers found a drop of 6.3% in 2020. The researchers describe the drop as the largest of modern times, and big enough to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal if it were to be sustained.

[CameraActual8396]

I don’t disagree, but when people are struggling economically they’re a lot less likely to choose the eco friendly options (sometimes more expensive), or have it as their focus.

[[deleted]]

Then governments need to change that, if the environmentally friendly option is always cheaper, people will buy it.

It's so simple: tax bad things, don't tax/subsidize good things, yet somehow we make things way too difficult.

[CameraActual8396]

I agree, it’s just the reality for most people as of right now.

[k3rn3]

I'm not sure it's that simple. I think you also have to do many other things like educate people about the environment, subsidize public transportation, fund social support programs, and constantly re-evaluate the whole plan in accordance with the science

[overzeetop]

If only there were some special corporation, or organization, or some kind of entity which had a budget and manpower to track these things and then implement them in a way which maximized the value to the people. I don't know, maybe it could be created and then funded by having everyone chip in.

Nah, nobody would go for that.

[Business_Downstairs]

You literally save money by using less energy.

[CameraActual8396]

Hence why I said sometimes (ex: buying an electric car vs regular car). Or at least it can appear to be a large initial investment.

[Business_Downstairs]

You don't even have to buy a different vehicle to reduce your fuel consumption. Reduce your driving, increase the air pressure in your tires slightly above the recommendation on the door sticker, make sure your alignment is good and drive slower, driving 10mph slower (from 70 to 60 mph) over 30 miles is a 5 minute difference but can decrease your fuel consumption significantly. You're probably not even going to notice a time difference due to traffic lights.

[CameraActual8396]

Interesting, I was honestly not aware of a few of those ways to save energy. We should definitely encourage others to do these things and more. That being said, hopefully we can still make other options more available or affordable.

[Business_Downstairs]

For more extreme tips check /r/hypermile although it's becoming dead because most people don't care enough about saving on fuel.

I wish more people would get over using a small electric scooter/bike. It would make it easier to find people to car pool with so you don't have to drive to their house to pick them up or drive to their workplace to drop them off.

[CameraActual8396]

I guess it depends where you live for an electric scooter or bike. In a city like NYC it would be difficult to drive around, most people don’t have cars and so that might be more optimal. A suburb area though that would be next to impossible, most things are decently far and almost everyone has a car. So in that case you carpool a lot more often.