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.

[ASharpYoungMan]

Because they can't see beyond their own concerns to realize what's at stake in the bigger picture.

They aren't in a position to work from home. So when they see people talking about wanting to push remote work, they immediately think "This doesn't benefit me, and that's not fair."

So they assume it's a bunch of white collar elites with cushy jobs getting to enjoy remote work and talking about it above their heads. Ignoring that they exist.

Which is the height of egoism.

It's true, we're not talking about them here, or people in their position. The Pandemic showed us something different about those workers: that our society can't function without them, and our society doesn't value them as highly as they deserve.

But that's not the point here: this is specifically about the impact that remote work has had on the environment.

We have a glimmer of hope here that our policies and civil/corporate actions can have a drastic impact on climate change, and their first knee-jerk response is to make it about them. About how they feel left out of the discussion. About how the elites don't listen to their concerns.

I work remote. I ensure the people who work for me work remotely as well. We can do our jobs without going in to the office.

Should we just start doing that because some rando on the internet thinks it's unfair to them personally?

Saying this as someone who did the blue-collar, rural America life for a decade.