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Kasz216 on 16 April 2013
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the2real4mafol said:
Kasz216 said:
the2real4mafol said:
The issue here is that mining was such a tradition here in the UK, that communities were formed around it. There's no such thing for oil drilling, unless it's fracking really. But despite what she did, I guess getting off coal was good for us, even though her intentions had nothing to do with the environment, it was more revenge for what miners did in 1974 than anything.

But seriously we need to change how we think, just because China is pumping out more pollution and emissions than ever before, don't mean we can't do our own little bit to help with climate change. China only uses coal so much (70% of all it's energy!) because it's very very cheap. If we invested far more in cleaner, renewable energy forms so they became cheaper, then surely industrialising countries like China would adopt the newer and cleaner forms of energy. The smog we have seen in Beijing and other cities is of great concern to them but they won't risk anything that lowers growth, so we still have our part in making renewables cheaper and far more efficient so that the developing world will adopt them.

First off... I think your GREATLY understimating how much coal is used a day.

Secondly, towns totally do spring up where oil does.

Thirdly... even if we developed the perfect clean burning renewable energy today... it'd take decades to be remotely competietive with "dirty" fuels.

By the time clean renewables come up, we almost ceratinly wil be over the tipping point.

How do i underestimate how much coal is used? I said it's 70% of their energy source, which is a ton.

And yes towns do spring up around oil wells BUT they haven't existed for hundreds or even thousands of years like coal mining comunities have. The impact of such communities being destroyed is very different.  

Well we should just get on with creating alternative fuels now then. I already except climate change isn't preventable (because we didn't cause it to start with!, it's a natural event), we must adapt to it. 

1) Not just China though.  For example in the US... 42% of our Power is provided by Coal.  In the UK it's 21%.

2) Why?  Why does how long a community is around matter?  Once you get past 2 generations what does it matter?  People here now don't remember back thousands of years.  Ask someone who's community goes back and i don't think they really give a fuck about how long the town has been there and care a little bit more about things like feeding their families.

It's also worth noting.  Coal and Oil Communties DO collapse.  The US has many depeleted coal towns just like the UK, but with no big government boogyman shutting them down.  They collpased because... they ran out of coal.  In general expecting such communties to last forever when based on a finite resource is foolishness.

3)  We already are working on alternative fuels.  Really it's not so much a matter of the tech being expensive though... as combustable fuels being cheap.

Well that and energy storing solutions being either shit or focused around fairly rare mateierals.

Something like a migration to natural gas would be a better short term option.  (though potentially useless.)