5637

I was afraid that I had missed the joke. :)

5638

I’m assuming that I’m going to need more than one reusable bag if you’re replacing more than one plastic bag.

5639

Thanks, yeah I agree.

And now a return to semi-regularly scheduled ohshit:

5640

Djakarta and Miami sinking beneath the waves might sway a couple of the folks who currently see the climate emergency as someone else’s problem. All this science stuff isn’t doing the trick.

5641

Miami’s been sinking for a while already. Hasn’t seemed to make a dent so far.

5642

It depends on the size, but usually, my bag can hold about 3-4 times what your average supermarket bag can.

And, I don’t need to worry about double bagging stuff if I decide to put heavy canned goods or milk in it.

So, 4 to 1 ratio sounds about fair.

5643

Maybe… I tend to make sure they fill up the plastic bags beyond what they would normally do. Those bags are way stronger than anyone gives them credit for.

5644

You starting loading it with a few pounds of cat litter, and you get a fair appreciation of what they hold.

I use the disposable bags for cat litter and tiny trash bags in the bathroom and bedroom.

5645

That’s exactly the sort of thing on the NPR interview about the study I mentioned brought up. There was a huge increase in purchases of plastic bags for small trash cans and similar uses after they banned plastic bags in grocery stores.

5646

As with the Aldis example above, my local coop has various size cardboard boxes up front. Cardboard boxes are an excellent way to carry groceries and they can be reused either for shopping or shopping or they can be recycled.

5647

Oh, come on. There was nothing we could do about Miami. It was just god’s plan. And Miami used to be underwater at some point in the last 6,000 years since god made the earth, so clearly these things are just natural cycles that we can’t control.

5648

Posted without comment. A thought-provoking read.

But unlike many other activities that contribute to climate change, air travel serves a valuable social function. It gives remote towns a lifeline to critical fuels, food, and medicines. It helps families stay connected across continents. It opens the door to life-changing experiences.

So reducing air travel demands a difficult moral reckoning, even if we make the decision solely for ourselves. But activists like Rosén say these actions have consequences for the whole world, so we cannot afford to make them without forethought.
Flying’s growing effect on the environment

If you’re a regular flyer, odds are that your biggest single source of greenhouse gas emissions each year is air travel. It likely dwarfs the footprint of all the lights in your home, your commute to work, your hobbies, and maybe even your diet.

“Euro for euro, hour for hour, flying is the quickest and cheapest way to warm the planet,” said Andrew Murphy, aviation manager at Transport & Environment, a think tank in Brussels.

5649
5650

Maybe the same technique could be used with heat pipe coolers as well?

5651

Fact Sheet: Fossil Fuel Subsidies: A Closer Look at Tax Breaks and Societal Costs

https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-fossil-fuel-subsidies-a-closer-look-at-tax-breaks-and-societal-costs#5

The United States provides a number of tax subsidies to the fossil fuel industry as a means of encouraging domestic energy production. These include both direct subsidies to corporations, as well as other tax benefits to the fossil fuel industry. Conservative estimates put U.S. direct subsidies to the fossil fuel industry at roughly $20 billion per year; with 20 percent currently allocated to coal and 80 percent to natural gas and crude oil. European Union subsidies are estimated to total 55 billion euros annually.

Historically, subsidies granted to the fossil fuel industry were designed to lower the cost of fossil fuel production and incentivize new domestic energy sources. Today, U.S. taxpayer dollars continue to fund many fossil fuel subsidies that are outdated, but remain embedded within the tax code.

5652

I wish they would have gone into more detail on how that heat exchange works. For example, could existing systems be retrofitted?

Also - I hate “500% more efficient” when this may only be 1% of the overall energy used to power up a furnace or AC. Eg, you still need to move air through the house. I’m guessing this is really applicable in AC and heat pumps, but again the article doesn’t go into a lot of detail

" This type of heat exchange is a staple of modern HVAC systems widely used in home heaters and air conditioning units, the researchers say."

I’m theorizing that it would take less energy to excite the thermal exchange, but I’m not sure how much energy that takes today.

5653

THAT’S A COMMENT!

I’ll see myself out.

5654

I am hoist on my own petard!

5655

Climate change makes the NYT front page.
But so does Tulsi Gabbard. :/

5656

“Gabbard, who is serious about appeasing her Russian overlords”