Temperatures rose above 52 degrees Celsius (125.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh, the highest reading of the summer and close to the country’s record high amid an ongoing heatwave, the met office said on Monday.
The degree to which businesses prioritize political patronage over economic efficiency can’t be overstated. From Shitcoins to Big Box Retailers, we expend enormous amounts of carbon in pursuit of flights of fancy.
And all those private jets and helicopters out to remote ecologically preserved vacation spots could definitely be defined as “burning fossil fuels for fun”.
It’s not just “they make products and services that people buy”, it’s that “they maximize their personal profit at the expense of people and the environment”.
It’s easy but reductive to blame consumers for consuming, when it’s worth noting that biodegradable packaging costs more than plastics that will never break down, so corporations will choose cheap plastic over environmentally friendly packaging 99.9% of the time.
The incentives are wrong. Instead of maximizing profit we need to ensure that profit is not maximized at the expense of sustainability, at the expense of pollution, and at the expense of the entire future of our planet.
E.g. a carbon tax will solve a lot of problems, or a tax on waste like plastic. It is very very unpopular with the public though so the government can’t put it in place for fear of being voted out.
Nothing is stopping corporations from doing The Right Thing right now except their own desire not for profit, but for maximized profit at all costs. Dare I say it, but if a company can’t make a profit without creating harm, it doesn’t deserve to make a profit.
What do this corporations do to cause 80% of emissions? Just burn it for fun?
No. They make products and services that people buy. Making out people play no part in this doesn’t help anyone.
The degree to which businesses prioritize political patronage over economic efficiency can’t be overstated. From Shitcoins to Big Box Retailers, we expend enormous amounts of carbon in pursuit of flights of fancy.
And all those private jets and helicopters out to remote ecologically preserved vacation spots could definitely be defined as “burning fossil fuels for fun”.
It’s not just “they make products and services that people buy”, it’s that “they maximize their personal profit at the expense of people and the environment”.
It’s easy but reductive to blame consumers for consuming, when it’s worth noting that biodegradable packaging costs more than plastics that will never break down, so corporations will choose cheap plastic over environmentally friendly packaging 99.9% of the time.
The incentives are wrong. Instead of maximizing profit we need to ensure that profit is not maximized at the expense of sustainability, at the expense of pollution, and at the expense of the entire future of our planet.
That’s a government issue.
E.g. a carbon tax will solve a lot of problems, or a tax on waste like plastic. It is very very unpopular with the public though so the government can’t put it in place for fear of being voted out.
That’s… Really passing the buck though.
Nothing is stopping corporations from doing The Right Thing right now except their own desire not for profit, but for maximized profit at all costs. Dare I say it, but if a company can’t make a profit without creating harm, it doesn’t deserve to make a profit.
I mean like, duh?