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carbon tax bill
green lobbyists want to support a carbon tax bill. let's talk about it. share here an article and your thoughts on the article - or simply, ask some questions and let's get a discussion going. winner will be determined by the amount of engaging, contributing comments. let's get thinking, y'all
Ended September 4, 2021 • 2 Entries • Created by sisyphish
Challenge
carbon tax bill
green lobbyists want to support a carbon tax bill. let's talk about it. share here an article and your thoughts on the article - or simply, ask some questions and let's get a discussion going. winner will be determined by the amount of engaging, contributing comments. let's get thinking, y'all
Profile avatar image for REllyn
REllyn in Nonfiction

let’s talk and think, all!

The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, H.R.2307 was reintroduced in the House. I think that, or any carbon tax bill, would be a welcome breath of fresh air. I look at the horrific weather events around the globe and feel upset, saddened, and angry. I want to fire up my peers. I lobby my representatives as a member of my local chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL), an environmental conservation organization.

Realistically, as much as I hope to get H.R.2307 passed, it's not practical to get my leaders behind climate change legislation. In my state, it's likely impossible now, due to denial, ignorance, apathy, &/or possibly other seeminly unrelated factors, such as politics.

Even trying to change people's habits en masse seems daunting, an insurmountable challenge. We need to get away from viewing videos on such enjoyable, entertaining sites as YouTube, TikTok, or Netflix. These and similar sites require the most energy use, producing the most carbon emissions. I don't know how to link an article's website. By copying and pasting, you'll find more info in this article: All of your YouTube and TikTok videos are contributing to climate change (greenandgrowing.org).

Supporting a carbon tax bill makes all the sense in the world. So why am I pessimistic that the world won't grasp it? Oh, did I say 'pessimistic'? I'm really just trying to force myself to be 'realistic'. I'll close, before I get myself all choked up. Thanks for the challenge, and that's not sarcastic! It's certainly a topic fit for discussion! Sincerely!

sisyphish 
i really appreciate this submission. i signed up for CCL too, but came away from the intro webinar with a lot of questions. it didnt help that the people hosting it had no idea about anything to do with the economical impacts, they were only repeating what someone else told them to repeat. felt very rehearsed. also am hard pressed to trust that website, green and growing. it's weird to me that they claim to be in support of green change, yet have mostly articles linking to purchases on amazon. so it's an affiliate marketing page, and therefore not a valid scientific resource. sounds like another attempt by the big guy at making individuals feel quilty for enjoying things. from (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277512672_Are_guilt_appeals_a_panacea_in_green_advertising_The_right_formula_of_issue_proximity_and_environmental_consciousness): This research examines guilt appeals in green advertising by clarifying moderating roles of issue proximity and environmental consciousness. Advantageous effects of guilt appeals are produced in two contexts: promoting a highly proximal issue to consumers with weak environmental consciousness or promoting a less proximal issue to those with strong environmental consciousness. Guilt appeals are no more effective than non-guilt appeals when a low-proximity issue is presented to individuals with weak environmental consciousness. Guilt appeals backfire when promoting a high-proximity issue to highly conscious individuals. The implications of these findings are discussed, as are the limitations and directions for future research. In fact, i believe the only way we can change people's impulses en masse is via those resources that you are saying should be ceased. especially when we are up against big time money
Profile avatar image for REllyn
REllyn 
I find your comment well thought out and appropriate. I merely referenced the article on Green and Growing because, though dated, it was all I could come up with upon doing a cursory search for the havoc tik tok, etc., causes with respect to ocean temps. I don't see an end in sight to the plight we've backed ourselves into, as citizens on this planet. Many folk are primarily (or only) interested in activities that are self gratifying in hedonistic ways, in my humble opinion. I don't think anything will change people's ways en masse actually, short of someone legislating cessation of dangerous resources. And politicians who'd venture that might have the job security of Roman glaiators. Yes, a few of us still like to exercise. But most seem intent on being entertained passively. I'm frankly a bit surprised that people haven't taken to amputating their legs so they can conserve energy while sitting on their couches, as predicated by Arthur C. Clarke awhile back. He thought that many would shave our heads so we can don helmets to reap ultimate benefit from neural sensations. I hope you're doing well. I like to contemplate moving to a cave, as if it will solve anything, though it's a passing fancy. I doubt I'll forego the conveniences I'm afforded through the very technologies proving problematic to the earth's temperature. Sigh.
sisyphish 
@REllyn thanks for getting back! my formatting got lost on that, so sorry. it's so funny you mention exercise and gaming, i was just imagining how cool it would be if pokemonGO's Niantic could do a marketing push where they pay for walking paths projects in various communities, and get fun pokemon on them to incentivize use. (i also like to dream that we could build shades/ rest areas at various intervals, ideally out of recycled material - ala Brothers Make youtube page https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLVKxgTOeDk ) there's a ton of ways we can strt to get creative so im hoping that we move the discourse in that direction :D you're right, it's hard to forego those things. i wonder if we could have a 'dark' protest, where everyone turns electronics off for a night? or a certain amount of time, even. ((imagine how wonderful, if we replaced black friday with just... peaceful, quiet friday) think, most old fashioned things could still work. and we can make exceptions for things like lights. maybe start to engineer ways to make concerts use less resources, both in terms of travel for the entertainer and in travel for concert goers. i gotta tell ya what, it's hard to overcome true depression w exercise. im finding it just wears me out even more. i think a lot of people need to heal themselves, and just being in nature a bit more everyday is a great way to start.
I am 21 years or older.