| I think the point generally is that you can't appreciably fix the problems we face with individual action. Why do Americans use so much energy? Because it's cheap as a result of excluding the externality of pollution from the price. Why do Americans generate so much waste? Because there's no reasonable way to avoid it other than to never purchase any goods that are: - over-packaged - packaged in non-sustainable packaging - created/manufactured in wasteful processes ...because the externality of waste generation isn't factored into the price. Why do Americans ship such a huge percentage of goods using fossil-fuel-fueled transportation? Because for years we didn't build rail in service of propping up the automobile industry, and because the externality of pollution from car exhaust isn't factored into the transportation price. There are plenty of people who diligently split their trash, compost, glass, paper, plastics. There are plenty of communities that charge by the pound of unrecyclable waste. There are plenty of subsidies for installing solar panels, and energy companies giving credits for green energy generation (and other programs, like offering to provide only green energy for a premium). After years of this, we still have a huge problem. Individual action isn't the answer. It was always a smokescreen pushed on us by fossil fuel energy companies to avoid taking responsibility themselves. |