Hank Chats About Climate Change

[@traintobi]

2:33 I agree that we need to take ownership of our actions, but it's still important to put pressure on large institutions private or public. 'we buy the stuff' hinges on the assumptions that we have choices, which is not always true. Commute by transit? No transit. Commute by EV? Can't afford an EV. Walk or bike to work? Can't afford rent near work. As with other complex social problems the solution is BOTH changing our own behavior as individual AND putting pressure on large institutions.

[@Naiadryade]

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[@harithaolaganathan8895]

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[@droshi3464]

I could get behind something like tax benefits or other incentives for oil/coal/gas companies to switch to less harmful means of energy production but it isn't even clear what that is. From what I understand there are toxic chemicals involved when making solar panels, wind and hydrothermal have their own issues as well. I understand the sense of urgency but rushing into converting to technology that doesn't have all the kinks out just yet could end up having the opposite of the intended effect. I love what Elon Musk is doing he proves consumers have a hunger for cleaner energy sources, sooner rather than later companies will by rushing in in droves for that $$ and when they do the free market will do what it does best optimize, commercialize, & monetize.

[@aeron6747]

+ SERIOUSLY that part was so frustrating. People are basically forced into dependency and then blamed for the destructive system they’ve been forced to operate within

[@centreoftheselights]

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[@LindsayEllisVids]

0:01 but why

[@sertaki]

Indeed.

[@dkevans]

Was he drunk?

[@BlueDoubleSharp]

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[@Dom-nn1kg]

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[@Chilukar]

Because he was acting as if he was drunk because he had lost hope for the future.

[@zentouro]

To me, the hardest part of this problem is that the people in power (globally and in the US) will not experience the hardship for an incredibly long time (if ever) - which is why I get frustrated with the idea that we won't become motivated until 'we' (and who that 'we' refers to is a whole nother can of worms) experience the consequences of climate change -- because many many people already are experiencing serious and dangerous negative consequences... and that isn't enough. Also re: the stat/article about X% of companies are responsible for X% of climate change (and there may be a Hot Mess video in the works on this) is mostly important in the fun-times land of lawsuits. The obvious comparison: the Tobacco Industry. While individual people experience the value/reward/use of fossil fuels (individuals smoked), companies used their wealth and power to expand to dominate and direct cultural norms/sociatal structure to consolidate more power and wealth around a product that they knew did harm to consumers (tobacco and also fossil fuels). Within that framing the - Shell, for example, creating programs to encourage individuals to buy electric cars really is a distraction from their (or another company's) culpability in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

[@Naiadryade]

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[@celinak5062]

Should just start calling it Exxon-Climate. The Smoke And Fumes Committee from 1946 really 'taught' every other company how to sell doubt, confusion and controversy.

[@Chilukar]

I don't think the problem is that they will not experience the problem, after all, Hank would be 120 in 2100 and would most likely have shuffled off this mortal coil himself. The problem lies in that democracy in general and 2 party systems in particular force politicians to be short termist. They have 4/5 year terms, which means they have 2/3 years of power, then have to find funds to campaign and get re-elected. Even if they want to concentrate on long term goals like climate change, unless it is a big issue for voters they will get caught up in the weeds of short term jobs, benefits, international politics, responding to news stories, etc. etc. This is why lobbyists hold so much power. Without their money politicians will find it hard to be re-elected. This is why many countries have banned political contributions and have publicly funded campaigns (although I should say I have not seen any evidence on whether this reduces the power of big business). Another big problem is that we are becoming more politically divided, we tend to live in areas with similar minded people, work with them, marry them and send our kids to the same schools, etc. (In v general terms cities are more liberal/left, countryside is more conservative/right, although it is much more nuanced than that). The result of this is that it becomes easy to demonise the people we have not met, and that rather than an exchange of ideas, we have a calcification of positions and, eventually anything one side says "must be wrong" (as we are seeing with Trumps America on both sides - think dismantling climate goals because Obama put them in and "negotiating with North Korea must be bad because Trump is doing it"). The solution will either be some kind of literal or metaphorical civil war, or the long hard slog of people making extra effort to get to know people with the opposite viewpoint as people and not as "the opposition", "the enemy", "obstructionist, or even as potential converts to your position. That is the way to have free and open exchange. PS sorry, this is a lot longer than I thought it would be - i guess you rarely get simple answers to difficult questions.

[@MlleLorelei]

+++**

[@katet.4992]

I'm 31 and am already blown away by the changes I've seen in my lifetime, the lack of bugs and the dwindling birdsong, in particular. Yet I find most of my peers think I'm crazy for talking about the next 20+ years and carefully planning where I'm going to end up geographically. They're convinced some Super Amazing Technology will save us. But there's no guarantee of that. Humans had to live with polio a long time before we figured out vaccines. I always ask, "What if climate change or over-harvesting prevents us from acquiring or delivering the resources necessary for our supposed technological salvation?" No good answer, just hope and faith. A lot of resources are harvested by people who already live in terrible conditions, in places that will suffer the most because of climate change. There aren't going to be many people harvesting those precious, obscure resources if they're having to flee from too much water or too much fire or too much bad air or too little food. There's a good chance that any solutions we come up with will be implemented too late to prevent horrifying consequences. And there's a reason billionaires of the world are buying luxury bunkers and amassing as much wealth as possible. There are going to be lots of unlivable places and lots of people panicking. For a little taste of what's to come, just look how "well" we currently handle mass migration. How many children and elderly will die? How many species will become endangered or go extinct? But I don't think the responsibility is on individuals. Most individuals don't even know the full extent of what's going on-and many don't have the time to learn or an education system that wants them to. This is a policy problem, during a time when policy is largely bought by corrupt psychopaths with no sense of self-preservation and implemented by corrupt cowards. Few want to bake fees or, even more controversially, rationing into the system because they want their greased palms to be reelected by the people who don't know the full extent of what's going on. Regardless, I think rationing could happen sometime in our distant future, out of necessity, but the pain won't be evenly distributed by then, if it ever could be.

[@MlleLorelei]

Kate T. +++

[@victorgrauer5834]

Lack of bugs??? Please explain to me how a 1 degree rise in temperatures over a period of more than 100 years is going to kill bugs, I'd love to learn the "science" behind that one. The drop in insect levels is far more likely due to the increase in pesticides than anything else. Grow a brain. And as for birds I still see and hear plenty of them here in PA.

[@cottage-core_]

Sure but climate change effects every region differently, the birds in you area may have been harmed, benefitted or felt no effect. The point isis that in the long run things don't look too good

[@jill6979]

@@victorgrauer5834 Bugs have migrated or been killed off from not managing to migrate. Rude much, grow a research brain and maybe look into a theory before talking down to someone about something you CLEARLY do not understand. Take a bio course and figure it out.

[@fenixchief7]

Try going outside and touching grass

[@CaptainPIanet]

Talks about mitigating climate change but releases a quarter liter of CO2 in the first quarter second of the video... smh

[@vlogbrothers]

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[@meg1653]

Captain Planet +++++

[@Forty2de]

Hank, Destroyer of Worlds

[@freeman7079]

Captain Planet 😂

[@hana.gemini]

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[@rabbitfishtv]

While it’s true that we all are responsible to some extent for the carbon-heavy lifestyle we enjoy, it’s important to remember that that the oil and gas companies do more than mine and extract; they make huge political donations to reduce regulation, they work with giant media companies to disseminate propaganda. They worked behind the scenes in the 20th century to build North American suburbia and car culture at the expense of density and mass transit. And now they are helping to export that model to developing nations. So, sure, car culture, one-family houses full of gadgets, etc., but that lifestyle was ruthlessly advertised and held up as the ideal (and the contrary punished as Communist) for an entire century. Expecting people to somehow give up their cars when their cities are built to create car-dependence is unrealistic. Yes, the 100 companies are more to blame.

[@pogobat]

I love my brother from a mother with a last name of another color, but does Hank think that the average person could simply stop consuming products from companies that pollute altogether? I mean really, what does ethical consumption look like for someone who makes $20k a year? Should they stop driving? Spend 40% more on sustainable groceries? The average American is less than $500 from a personal financial crisis! Our system doesn't make it easy to consume sustainably! Hank's implication that we're all hypocrites for consuming products from the corporations that pollute most is offensively ignorant to how ENTRAPPED average people are by our economic system. We never had a choice! When you work 50+ hours a week to feed your family, it's hard to be high-minded about your consumption. Frankly, there is no such thing as ethical consumption in a system that puts millions in this position. We need a new system entirely. Hank makes hundreds of thousands of dollars each year -- I'm sure that frees HIM to live more sustainably than most, but he shouldn't wag his finger at the rest of us. He doesn't see the big picture -- he fails to see climate change as the inevitable result of an unsustainable Capitalist system. Because capitalism has treated Hank well, he holds out more hope than he should that it might produce some silver bullet for the rest of us. It won't. His defense of the 100 companies responsible for 70% of emissions is weak. If we are going to slam the brakes on warming, we MUST take on monied interests who assume they'll either survive, or be dead already, when climate crises begin to cascade rapidly. Hank might have more of a point about "blaming Republicans" -- Climate Change MUST be the issue to unite us all. Anything less than a permanent supermajority mandate on climate change means game over. We lose. No more humans by 2100. Yes: Republican leaders are ass-backwards about the climate, but we should make a distinction between Republican LEADERS, and their VOTERS. We need to peel off a sizable number of those voters, and need to be mindful not to alienate them on this issue. Instead of accusing them of causing the problem, we ought to be working to SCARE THEM OF ITS CONSEQUENCES. We need to repeat over and over: this issue will kill us all if we don't do anything. Coastlines will disappear while deserts expand and people will be displaced on an unprecedented scale. The largest migration crisis in history will lead to war, which will lead to nuclear annihilation. This is not overly dramatic. This is the truth, and it bears repeating. Tell your Republican friends: climate change will kill us all if we don't band together to fight it. Fear is an effective motivator, and we need to wield it. Hank's argument is a pretty standard-issue "If you hate Capitalism so much, why do you still engage with it?" variety, which pretends that those on the receiving end ever had a choice. I don't think Hank has ill-intent here, but he is in denial about how severe the climate crisis is, and out of touch with the daily experience of less wealthy people. I hope he comes around, but the cynical side of me wonders if Hank doesn't have too much to lose from a climate-inspired revolution. I think he might be blind to some of the incentives subtly warping his view. Montana will probably be safe longer than most of the world, after all.

[@AstroFerko]

That's a really good analysis. I don't think Hank has spent enough time thinking about the US government to realize how severe the corruption is. He seems to follow an establishment-esque narrative and puts the blame on the people rather than the system.

[@NoPr0bl3ms]

DAYUM that was more heated than I was expecting lol. Would like to see Hank respond to this. It is true though that capitalism has done wonders for Hank Green, who runs a media empire that includes a network of successful youtube channels, best-selling books, blockbuster movies, podcasts, a record label, merchandise, massive conferences, tours, and more. It's also worth pointing out that one time (I think he tweeted it?) John said that Hank does a lot of stuff behind the scenes that people don't know about, including donating a substantial portion of his income to charity every year. And in the early days of vlogbrothers before they were rich I definitely remember Hank being a pretty radical environmentalist/leftist, so I'm not sure exactly how much his views are influenced by personal wealth.

[@meh23p]

You can’t just talk about fear. That makes people turn away. You have to give them power in this game, not make them powerless. Make them feel important. Make them the heroes. You have to find a way to do this and still insist on common solutions. Also go beyond the environment, which is something people think of as something separate from humanity. It’s not about the environment, it’s about us humans. We’re the ones who are going to be screwed. Also it’s not only about the poorest of us who cannot adapt, it’s also about the wealthy countries, who will surely lose their place in a world fraught with famine and war on a scale not seen in generations, if not centuries. It will be every country for itself.

[@celinak5062]

Ethical production, does it exist?

[@janisfroehlig7744]

I got approved for a $9k loan from my credit union and bought an off-lease Fiat 500e. It's about $220/mo, plus I don't have to pay for gas. It also doesn't cost anything to drop my paper bag of compostable 'garbage' at our suburban compost collection site. This single mom refuses to play the helpless card. Go find a CSA, get your kids growing food in pots on your deck, and think of me actually cooking as you open that box of prepackage food. You do have choices, you make thousands of them per day, but for whatever reason you don't have the inclination to see them.

[@Roll587]

Wow, what a start to the video!

[@andrineslife]

It's all about that gas!

[@Brentttilda]

WisMicYal11 that burp though

[@Onihikage]

*B E L C H*

[@alfredogonzalez8735]

Why don’t more people simply reduce their meat consumption, methane is a much more potent GHG with a shorter half-life so methane reductions from less meat would make more of a fast impact

[@VeganSemihCyprus33]

Monetary system is arrogance, we will learn the wisdom of nature eventually but can be too late. Learn about Resource Based Economy!

[@thingamabitch]

It's not that these 100 companies made things or provide electricity, it's their unwillingness to change and putting profit ahead of planet.

[@danieljensen2626]

You're right that we buy the stuff, but I do think carbon taxes would partly or largely get passed on to consumers which is probably the best way to get us to buy less of the stuff. Like if meat was more expensive a lot of people would probably become mostly vegetarian just because it made financial sense, and that would be a good move for the environment. Also I can't help but feel like Republicans aren't 100% genuine in their concerns. Like defending the jobs of coal workers is one thing but fighting to allow companies to dump their waste in people's drinking water and pollute the air their workers breath is kinda not in the best interest of the workers. I definitely don't think we would solve climate change instantly if Republicans changed their minds, but they definitely aren't helping. It is a hard issue though. Probably even if everyone agreed we wouldn't be making that much progress, because there's no way to prevent climate change without making major lifestyle changes. It's not like everyone who believes in climate change is doing everything they can right now, otherwise there would be a lot more bicycle riding vegans around.

[@Tfin]

Oh yes, raising the cost of things would certainly cause me to buy fewer things. I mean, really, dead people don't need much.

[@celinak5062]

The 1 dollar burger would be like 11 instead. Lentils and root vegetables and, rye and flex whole bread should be subsidised.

[@danieljensen2626]

@@celinak5062 The tax on grains is already going to be lower because producing them results in a lot less carbon production compared to meat. It will be disproportionately hard on low income people, and as a pretty low income person myself I'm aware of that, but climate change is also going to be disproportionately hard on low income people so there's kinda no winning either way.

[@albertjackinson]

A carbon tax might be too slow at this stage, unfortunately. And there are meat-like meat alternatives--lab grown meat and its various methods of production, for example.

[@nikkiwilliamson4665]

Part of me is like ‘We can do this! We can fix climate change! We can make solutions!’ And part of me is like ‘We are doomed. Hopefully I die before it gets too bad.’

[@LuisMartinez-jk3yo]

Nikki Williamson make sure you help us before you do. Cheers m8

[@starlinguk]

I have a son, so I don't think the latter.

[@gregmerritt9366]

Nikki Williamson If societal collapse doesn't get us first. I can empathize.

[@luisdanielmoreno5717]

wow, someone who understands me

[@arturtres3]

Hey Hank, can you tell me how to stop participating in the global economy? Because if we don't have a choice in whether or not we participate in it, how exactly can you blame individuals for the damage being done by the system? It looks like I'm being blamed for participating in something I've been coerced into.

[@arturtres3]

@@MariellaAAR Congratulations, you solved climate change!

[@Wishalee]

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[@arturtres3]

​@@MariellaAAR Well, I'll ask you a few more things, why do you think people buy more stuff than they need? Is it some kind of moral flaw that coincidentally affects the majority of the people in wealthy countries? Were people born wanting to buy a new cellphone every year? What I'm trying to get at, is that "don't buy shit you don't need" is not going to solve anything. You will never convince anyone to do it and it misses the point on what makes people buy mor shit than they need. And even on an individual level, if I stop buying shit I don't need, the most I get is to wash my hands and feel smugly superior. You make a negligible impact and shit stays the same. To make any difference in climate change you have to reevaluate all of our current systems of production and culture that drive the excessive consumption you pointed at. It's like one of those russian dolls, you removed the first one, but there's a lot more behind it.

[@arturtres3]

​@@MariellaAAR I'll agree with you that the most effective way would be if we had a popular consensus, drive consumption down and then the government and companies just agree with it and do their part. But this is never going to happen. Even in the outlandish scenario where we convince most of the world to turn down their consumption and be engaged with this issue, companies would not accept to turn down their growth and profits. In this day and age, companies aren't just reacting to the demands of the people, they create their demand using advertisement and lobbying the government. You can't ignore this facet of our reality. There are people working really hard and spending a lot of money to keep consumption high and make profits go up. I'll answer my own question here and tell you that this excessive spending is not just our natural instinct to make sure we have enough, the small minority of people who benefit the most from this overspending have been magnifying this instinct to benefit themselves with no regard to the damage done to the environment. The greed of these few business owners and speculators is what's at the root of this problem, not the fact that normal people have disposable income. Now onto the issues of convincing everyone. I'd like to point out that the vast majority of people in the world are not living opulent lives. Even in rich countries, how would you tell a family that is struggling to pay rent and make ends meet, that they have to stop buying more than they need? The impact that the average person makes is not what's causing the problem, and the structures that come from their consumption were not created by them, so it seems almost evil to blame the average person for the damage being done. The person saw an opportunity to have a slightly bigger car, and they took it after working 40+ hours a week for years, tell me, is this what's causing climate change? Is this person equally guilty as an Exxon executive? What I'm talking about are solutions to the problem that will allow us to live on Earth for a few more centuries, and to just make a campaign to convince everyone to spend less and then hope really hard that the companies will be ok with less growth, is not going to cut it. We have a radical problem that seriously threatens life on earth, mild and comfortable solutions are insanely hard and they might not even be enough to stop the monster we have on our hands. Therefore, we need radical changes to the way power is distributed. While there exists powerful people benefiting from this overspending, we have no chance of even slowing down climate change, let alone solving it.

[@kallibodi8457]

he’s not blaming you personally, he’s saying we all share the blame as a collective. no one is blameless. so it’s no use for those of us who point fingers and say we don’t have to change our ways because these people did MORE than me! he’s calling those people out don’t buy new clothes, buy your clothes from thrift shops. actually, try not to buy new whenever you can. thrift and pawn shops often have a lot of the things you’re looking for- dishes, cups, blenders, power tools, etc. repurpose when you can. i like candles. i burn soy candles, and when they’re done, clean out the glass jars that once held the candles and use those as my drinking glasses, some have lids and hold my leftovers. i weave my torn and tattered clothes into blankets for the animals at my local shelter. the options are endless when you get creative!! check out farmers markets when you can. buy local when you can. buy in season. it isn’t practical to stop buying altogether, but i think for many of us, we can afford (heh heh) to cut back on our spending. and we kind of have to do everything we possibly can because future generations are depending on us. i hope this helps!

[@m_a_p]

I'm increasingly convinced that a) the current system is not sustainable and b) we will not admit this collectively until it is to late. We are therefore living in a slowpocalypse that will manifest in the problems that we "solved" (mainly by utilizing petro-chemicals in one way or another) in the past becoming unsolved again. It won't be sudden but slowly more and more people will die. This is a problem caused by our economic system, not our culture.

[@altrocks]

You mean like how a ridiculously powerful hurricane powered by warming oceans decimated Puerto Rico last year, resulting in plastic IV bags that modern medicine depends on becoming very short on supply in the US, leading to increasing anxiety that we'd have to go back to pre-plastics medicine, at least in part.

[@rochelynx7944]

Slowpocalypse :)))))

[@alfredogonzalez8735]

Why don’t more people simply reduce their meat consumption, methane is a much more potent GHG with a shorter half-life so methane reductions from less meat would make more of a fast impact

[@m_a_p]

Alfredo Gonzalez I'm so bored of solutions targeting individual behavior. This is a systemic problem. Even if nobody eats meat starting tomorrow we would not meet 1.5 degree goals. This is an issue caused by capitalism and we won't be able to even think about solutions as long as we actively ignore that and pretend our economic system is perfect. We cannot smart-consume our way out of this mess, sorry.

[@sifsgarden7162]

@@wakaisgood kzbin.info/www/bejne/moGok3x7mJahZtU

[@joshuawalker7054]

"BEELLCHH!" -New York Times #1 best selling author Hank Green.

[@gregmerritt9366]

Joshua Walker He's paying homage to Ola Englund.

[@thewinterizzy]

I have 15 minutes left on the treadmill. PERFECT TIMING HANK, THANK YOU. 😂

[@adrift-at-c]

"We buy the stuff!" You're saying that as if we could all just *stop* buying stuff. We can't. Not unless we want to wander off into the woods and stop participating in society. Otherwise, I need food, I need power, I need to get to work and if the chicken is cheaper than the tofu, if I can't afford to lease solar, if using public transport hurts my chances at getting a job, I have to keep buying. Consumers don't have control over how goods are produced; we have to consume goods whether or not we like to, given the current setup of society. Fundamentally, framing the issue of climate change as one of many individual choices is like trying to understand the ocean in terms of individual water molecules. It's true to say that the ocean is made up of many water molecules, but that doesn't tell you anything about ocean waves. It's true to say individual consumers do things that release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but that doesn't tell you anything about the cause climate change. Climate change is not a phenomenon that exists on the scale of individuals.

[@sadique]

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[@adrift-at-c]

A lot of people don't have access to renewable energy, and can't afford to choose their residence based on its availability. Most clothing is poorly made and only designed to last a season, so you buy more of it. The tofu thing was me being glib; not everyone can afford to go on a regulated low-meat diet for various reasons including health, cost, availability, and time commitment required to manage it. Most people can't change jobs (there aren't many available) and looking only for jobs that don't require a car limits the number of jobs you can take, which is something you can't afford to do if you're having trouble finding *any* jobs to begin with. You're missing the point here; climate change doesn't exist on the level of individuals. Lots of people buying lots of things they don't need is not the cause of climate change. An economic system that prioritizes the generation of profit without regard for human and environmental health is. An economic system that incentivizes and encourages maximizing consumption is. These aren't the problems of individuals, these are the problems of the systems individuals are embedded in.

[@turtle4llama]

It is a bit like blaming a famine on the people for needing to eat food. It's an incredibly privileged view, especially when we currently have the means to fix the problem. "Why yes my lord, the fields wouldn't be barren if we used proper methods of crop rotation and fertilization, but also, perhaps, the blight would not have spread so quickly if you didn't force us to farm smallholding and instead let us use your vast lawns."

[@AlizabelaRosa]

the only people you can blame are the people who have power to do something about it and then are choosing not to, and when i say power i mean money, like, the pentagoon _lost_ $21 trillion dollars, the money is there, the $700 billion dollars a year budget could easily cover the entire cost, and you know what if the USA turned around and said "hey we're gonna stop spending money on the military and focus on climate change" they would have a much better chance at staying "world leaders" than they would by the current method which is having the biggest guns.

[@Wishalee]

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[@JonathanLoganPDX]

Great post, Hank! Please do more research and post more on climate change. Your insights and humor are deeply needed in this, the most urgent of human topics. Cheers!

[@hannahthomnoble8300]

Some optimism that I've found in the changing culture of my city: I live in Leeds in the UK and recently there's been a lot of new social enterprises set up with an environmental focus, such as zero waste refill shops, and a 'supermarket' which only sells food which is diverted from landfill. When I talk to people about these cool things going on in my city, people are very receptive and most of my friends are now making an effort to think about where they buy things and what impact their lifestyle has on the environment - the culture is changing. I know that I probably live in an environmentalist echo chamber, but the message about climate change is getting through to everyone, bit by bit.

[@G33KST4R]

11:54 In Galactic news, Earth, a relatively quiet planet in the Sol System, home to the dominant life form "human" were seen earlier today tinkering with their volcanoes. While intergalactic law states that we are not allowed to intervene with non space faring planets, our thoughts and prayers do go out to them. Now over to Xlazion with the 5 day Milky Way weather forecast.

[@grumpyoldguy7247]

GrumpyThumper - - - CENSOR INTERCEPT - - - Post delete...Planet Terra is sequestered due to possession of thermonuclear weapons and belligerence of native species. Refrain from any further mention of this system in future broadcasts. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. Yours, Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings, Sussex Monitoring Station.

[@tallicedlatte]

Thank you for speaking about things with nuance and compassion. Discussions like this will do more to further progress than all the yelling at each other.

[@LeahandLevi]

Climate change is a massive issue, so big that people just shut down because it seems too big. I started my channel to show people that we aren't doomed and that by doing a few little things you can help to save the world. You and your brother inspired me to start it.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

"...At least until the next one" :) I usually find it's easier to keep a 'cup half full' mindset by reminding myself we're pretty good at problem solving and that overcoming challenges is generally what drives us to be better, it's a silver lining at least.

[@albertjackinson]

Hi Isaac! Didn't know you'd comment!

[@Megrezz]

Thanks Hank! I always appreciate insightful content from you. You present the information in easily digestible ways for those without either the full info or background to understand the full info. That you present it with sympathy and understanding to both sides of the argument is refreshing and adds to your credibility. Thank you for being a strong but temperate voice we can trust!

[@themaximus144]

Thank you Hank. You do a really good job of respectfully explaining the problems, without demonizing your opposition. I've really been wanting to see more stuff like this from environmentalists for a while now, both because I find it less condescending than a lot of the rhetoric I hear, and because I think messages like this will actually do a better job of convincing people to change. People will be more likely to agree with us if we treat them with respect, and dignity. Love conquers all you know, and if you let people know that we're all apart of a problem, not just them, and that it's going to be hard to change, but that it's possible, and that we can do it, however unlikely, if we all help each other out, then they might just give it a shot.

[@LimeyLassen]

I prefer "Climate Chaos". It ticks both boxes!

[@gracep.2801]

I love the ending, for all that stresses me out about the world and consequences we now face, I really do want there to be careful thought about how culture should be shifted and how we can work together to solve the biggest problems... In the effort to change, it is far better to show compassion and understanding. Its not like we can change whats been done..? The only way is forward, thank you for making this video, and for putting so much thought and care into what you say.

[@CommodoreFluffy]

i dont really buy your defense of coal company owners. dont they always say that the value that they provide as capitalists is that they accept the risk? then let them take responsability. maybe for cpitalism to work we need to let these people and their loans collapse abd those jobs to dry up so people in the future think about the futre and the planet before they invest in power plants in the first place. sure they arent individually the cause, but u know what is? consumerist capitalism. i frankly dont care what story we tell about owners or republicans but we have to stop protecting them with legal and economic structures from the consequences of their actions. maybe we dont need luxury cars, maybe we dont need new models of things every year. maybe fuel needs to be taxed higher. it disgusts me to hear people say that those in the way of neccessary change are the real victims because oh no their money and people are being mean.

[@BillMarion]

I'm so very grateful you mentioned geoengineering. A few years ago I was convinced that we could science global warming away, and then everyone could be happy. But yea, that might unintentionally make things worse! We screw things like that up all the time. My opinion concerning climate changed has well, changed much over the past five years. I just wish we had ideas that could bring us closer together.

[@d14551]

This video reflects a lot of insight into the subtleties of how our human nature makes this problem so difficult to solve. Thanks.

[@granadakimj]

When people tell me "It too late, to do something about climat change" I tell them "Imagine you're driving a car and for some reason, you're heading for a cliff. If you don't do anything, you will go over the cliff. If you brake or steer, you might still go over the cliff. But you might also avoid, falling into the cliff. What would you do? Stand on the brakepedal, right?" My piont is: It's never too late to do something. Never just give up. You just have to act, that's all...

[@IstasPumaNevada]

As far as individuals, I'm not mad at the workers running the refineries. I'm mad at the small number of people high up (both financially and politically) _actively and knowingly spreading disinformation among the population_ in order to suppress any movement to make the changes we need to make. I know that small number of people are only part of the larger problem (and I know that the power structure inevitably encourages this behavior), but I think they play a clearly despicable part in it and I detest them for it.

[@LifeInspector]

THANK YOU so much for making this video. I too have been driven crazy by people making the "20 companies" "distraction" argument. Thank you, Hank.

[@Smashlynne13]

You just had to throw that last bit in!! I was fine (scared but slightly hopeful) but good going, now I just want to cry for all the bad things we haven’t even done yet! 😭

[@pinkysaurusrawr]

I appreciate you focusing on the fact that the money is really the problem! There’s a lot of misconceptions about whether or not we have the technology to pull off ending CO2 emissions, but we do. With our current solar tech, even considering batteries not being great, we could power the earth on solar. But that infrastructure would cost ten fortunes, and then you have old infrastructure and jobs to worry about. This conversation is important, and everyone in the comments seems to be getting caught up on the part where you talked about corporations (I tend to agree more with the commenters than with hank tbh, corporate consolidation, bribery via campaign finance, and a lack of even CONSIDERING options like carbon taxes are abominable and cannot be ignored) but I think the latter half of this video deserves just as much attention

[@freedomroks1]

Thanks for providing a reasonable perspective and helping me (and I'm sure others) see things in a new and clearer way.

[@krystnce]

Can not hit the like button hard enough. Climate change is super terrifying. Like dread and fear and anxiety all swirling in this ever rising and growing ocean of inevitability. I love the usage of perspective and why blame does not lead on a path to solution. Here is hoping someone figures out how to get enough people to make the needed changes. There is enough suffering.

[@nataliakozlowska6156]

Hello Hank! :)) Please keep on recording videos on climate change matters, I find all the content very interesting. I agree that people tend to underestimate these problems and sometimes don't understand the impact they have on us, people (not only animals). Thanks for your inspiring content, hugs!

[@toaster_inc]

I'm sure this comment will get buried and that you will probably never see it, but I just need to leave a reply saying this is the best KZbin video I've watched all year. You touch on a lot of topics and remain relatively nonpartisan the entire time, which is commendable in and of itself, but there's also the element of the content being ridiculously informative. I took an Atmospheric Sciences course on Climate Change a few years back at a university in the top 100 in the US for atmospheric research and some of the points you raise I knew, but a good chunk gave me even more things to think about! Sometimes I wish I did stay in that field instead of settling for one course on it. Regardless, like I was saying, this video is my favorite of this year. It's something I'm going to try to show everyone who's opinion matters to me, and then some. Everybody should watch and probably get some new perspective or thoughts to think through out of it.

[@FrederikConradie1986]

Only watched this now, almost a year after upload...you know what though....Hank, to me, you're almost like a young Bill Nye. Do see this as a small compliment, I'm a member of the Planetary Society and I love his thoughts on current affairs...you do strike me as similar, in a really good way. Top-man, well said...and thanks for the video. Keep on keeping on!

[@TheCommonS3Nse]

This is a great sober look at the issue of climate change. It’s not as simple as just stop polluting. We have to stop polluting in a way that doesn’t overturn the entire economic structure. The problem is that you can’t begin to have that conversation and work towards those solutions unless you are willing to acknowledge the truths on both sides of the argument. I don’t know what the solution is but if we actually work together towards this goal we will be far better off than trying to fight against each other.

[@briangarrow448]

We are gonna have to change our behavior. And eating habits. This is coming from a lifelong omnivore...

[@spreadingrumors]

Not if we're all extinct.

[@rockinstrawberries]

We are all lifetime omnivores until we aren't. Making the change is honestly easier than you could ever imagine :)

[@shouheartfelt9574]

@@rockinstrawberries veganism isn't easy, a diet isn't easy or natural if you need to use supplements to not get seriiously sick from it. Supplements that aren't very bioavailable to a lot of people btw.

[@rachelploeger5889]

The only supplements necessary for a vegan are B12, of which even most meat-eaters do not consume adequate amounts because the over-working of soil has killed the B12-producing bacteria that supply it for both vegans and the animals that omnivores consume, and vitamin D for those who have little sun exposure, which meat-eaters mostly get from fortified foods. Any concerns about protein come from the severely underinformed, and a balanced vegan diet will contain more than adequate amounts of all other nutrients, including iron, calcium, and omega-3 fatty acids.

[@rockinstrawberries]

How do you know it isn't easy until you've tried it?

[@perplexedprimate]

I think the most useful thing for shifting culture is to focus on the solutions instead of reiterating how bad the problem is -- for the sake of civilization and keeping sea level rise to the lowest we can, but also for the sake of our sanity and personal well-being. I like the Drawdown.org approach: looking at what actions we already know to do that will make the most difference, how much they will cost, and how soon we can start getting to carbon drawdown (aka 'negative emissions' - where photosynthesizers are able to uptake more CO2 than our emissions every year). A combination of these solutions WILL BE ENOUGH (probably even without geoengineering). Humans are very clever - we can do this - and the sooner we develop sufficient collective will and action, the less effort and less suffering will be required. And nearly every one of those solutions has other positive benefits that make them worth doing regardless of the climate benefit - reducing food waste, educating girls and making family planning more available, improving soil retention through no-till agriculture, eliminating refrigerant leaks, preserving the remaining forests... these are just great things to do, and they get us closer to several of the Sustainable Development Goals.

[@holyflutterofgod]

+

[@offthepath7958]

This is so much easier to understand and interesting than the networking and telecommunications I'm suppose to be studying. I think I'm failing at life.

[@UltraHuman]

Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you. Thank you thank you thank you, thanks, thank you.

[@keeperofdestiny]

I love how to tackle really serious problems, and then always end them with a hope in people being able to solve them. Humans are awesome.

[@abbybez5864]

Currently reading a book called "living in denial"; its about inaction to climate change even for people that are aware of and are concerned by the problem (like me, and probably you). I think understanding this human nature a little better really helps.

[@yoshi545825]

thank you Hank, one of the most nuanced, honest discussions on the subject I have seen.

[@iluvshanedawson1234]

I really, really needed this video this week.

[@MrBillyspilly]

Hank - Great points. Thanks for caring enough to make a vid about this thorny problem.

[@mothrone]

I'd like to add my bit of optimism. Thus far we've had to experience all the issues before we solve them, but now we have technology and resources to predict how trends will go on a scale like never before. We can see the obstacle in advance, and hopefully that's the edge we need

[@matthewlothian5865]

I love this. Fantastic perspective, and i totally agree.

[@avmtg3549]

We've been effecting climate change since we invented agriculture. The clearing of Forests for farm land started increasing the temperature of the earth. The problems if so much more complex them people can see. It makes it so hard to deal with.

[@LinaLovegood]

thank you for a perspective i haven't heard before and changing my mind

[@linnsansvinnsan]

Something you missed in this video is that the people who are upset that big companies aren't doing more to minimize their affect on the climate, or at politicians who won't put harder regulation in place, are people who already do everything they can to minimize their own carbon footprint. It's not people not wanting to take responsibility. It's usually the people who's stopped eating meat, who's recycling, who buys most of their clothes at charity shops, who takes 5 minute showers, who turn off the lights when they leave a room, who don't own a car or at least tries to use it as little as possible. It's people who do everything they can but still don't see that change reflected on a bigger scale. I'm 18 and a common topic among my friends is how to make less of an impact on the environment, we even talk about the worst thing we personally do without any judgement and then try to come up with ways to change that (for most of us it's all the one-use plastic). I live in Sweden and here the most common worry of young people is climate change. I think being angry that more isn't done higher up when how to help the environment is constantly in your thoughts, is completely justified.

[@bboyauron]

He's become a complete conservative and it's so frustrating. If every person on the planet cut our footprint in half it wouldnt come close to the effect of these corps just being a little less horrible

[@linnsansvinnsan]

John McIntosh I don't think he's become a complete conservative, but he's only got one perspective and should probably talk to people with other viewpoints or outlooks before making grand declarations like this. Idk I think it's important to listen to different people and he's got some great points, everyone needs to change their habits for a more sustainable world, but big companies shouldn't be excused from that because we "buy their stuff"

[@PNW_Marxist]

Considering big oil knew this was going to happen decades ago and set about burying the research and lying to the public, I would say the onus is definitely on the corporate side. If they had been honest to the public, that would be a different conversation to have.

[@Tigaj]

climate change is a huge deal and I appreciate a well-known voice like yours freaking out about it.

[@THEdavehogue]

I'm so happy you talked about geoengineering in this video. It's a subject I've been nerding out on lately, and yes. It is f***ing terrifying.

[@AaronKlapheck]

Anytime we are framing someone as the villain, we are becoming the villain. Love this quote! The only way to make the world a better place is to work cooperatively and positively with other people.

[@DimT670]

Nah that's nonsensical, because sometimes people really are villains. Its as simple as that

[@freeallfaded]

go to any us inner city and tell them that. let me know how that works out😂

[@Onedimensional4141]

Just discovered your channel. Great videos! I disagree with one point here. I don’t think we should put all the emphasis on the consumers to change behavior. If everyone is implicated, then no one is implicated. Guilt and powerlessness are factors that lead to denial. It’s supply and demand, we need to talk about both, and we still need to take responsibility. So we clearly need policy that will change behavior. We agree that we also need to be careful to avoid enemy narratives when talking about the providers or political parties. The backfire effect will work against us.

[@devananderson1519]

Hank I know you will probably never see this but I need to thank you for always reminding me to see the complexity in big problems. It is was too easy to pick a team, assign blame, and buy into radical rhetoric. Climate change is the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced and assuming simple convenient solutions that happen to ally with your flavor of politics will solve it is not productive. The role we all play in combatting this challenge is going to vary but it's going to take a lot of clever solutions from more people than we can imagine to create a future we can exist in and hopefully be proud of. But what else is new? DFTBA

[@elietheprof5678]

Let's settle the "who is to blame" argument: When it comes to driving, we're not to blame. City governments make zoning laws that keep homes far away from everything else, forcing us to drive. Same with planned obsolescence: tech companies are to blame. But when it comes to the meat industry, WE ARE to blame. Same with food waste. Our choices matter. Same with most consumerism. People insist on buying new things without checking at home or at thrift shops. Our choices make all the difference.

[@indeeruh]

1. Language matters - if using a different name makes people more likely to engage with the problem and work on trying to solve it, arguing about what to call it might be a good use of our time. 2. Thank you for helping me understand more of the reasons why this is a complicated and difficult problem to solve. I think one of the biggest problems with climate change is the way that it disproportionally impacts already marginalized people. By the time that people in rich, industrialized countries are really feeling the impacts of climate change, people in poorer countries will have already experienced staggering losses of life. I am from Puerto Rico, and I worry that my country (that is already in crisis) will be absolutely destroyed by the time that the US decides to acknowledge what is going on. It's deeply troubling to me that the countries who bear the most responsibility for carbon emissions will be the last to feel the effects of climate change. It is a privilege to live in a country that remains insulated from this reality, and as we know, privilege makes people blind. But the rest of the world can't afford to wait until the US comes to its senses.

[@elisabethstathopoulos3676]

HOW.DO.WE.SHIFT.CULTURE. YES Hank!! Dropping the important questions

[@RhizometricReality]

What if Money wasn't the mechanism of resource distribution?

[@lucasward9506]

then the world as we know it would fall apart and 50% of the population would probably starve, or be executed for not going along with a shitty plan like this.

[@lizcat278]

I have never wanted to immediately stop watching a video as much I did at the beginning of this one. 😂

[@Naiadryade]

I think when talking about something like natural gas, the discussion needs to be more complex than a simple comparison of what's more important, local environments or total carbon emissions. Because the local and the global are not two separate systems. Degraded ecosystems are less resilient to withstanding climate change. They provide fewer ecosystem services, including their ability to sequester carbon. Healthier ecosystems can provide some buffer for both local communities, and for total atmospheric carbon.

[@letitbelove1]

Naiadryade yea i was surprised to see a kinda pro-fracking stance from Hank and work like to know more about that. Living in Texas and hearing news about contaminated water from fracking and like odd earthquakes in Oklahoma, I felt the stance that fracking is bad news. But if in the current system the response will be to rely more heavily on coal, that’s worse! So it’s like a catch-22 situation if the country doesn’t want to go for sustainable energy b/c of different preconceived notions among the voters and lobbying among the leaders. Basically. I there is no easy solution i know. But I’m at such a loss of what to do/ think/ feel next

[@zoelyons1264]

I'll admit I may have had a swelling of self-righteous anger (agreement, not disagreement) around 3:02. I love my classmates and whatnot but it also INFURIATES me when people use '20 companies" like it's an excuse not to take individual action.

[@freeman7079]

I left a lengthy comment on the vlogbrothers channel offering my contention with typical climate change rhetoric, but I had no intent to start an argument. I just wanted to come here and show my appreciation for hanks passion on this issue. I have a fairly different opinion on this subject overall, but we need more people debating this subject objectively and not politically. May Mother Earth bless your soul, Hank.

[@noobslayer7564]

Amazing video, Hank. Worth watching every second

[@ianrbuck]

A burp as a cold open is exactly what I've come to expect from hankschannel.

[@karyon1007]

Had to double-check, but, yeah, you did say "We buy the cows that they make." 😆 Effective point, amusing word choice!

[@joeybroda9167]

You gotta put the screws on industry. I work for a natural gas utility and we're actually doing a lot to try to figure out what to with the gas infrastructure to make it as green as possible - biogas, syngas, hydrogen - that sort of thing. It's really scary for the industry. It is is more expensive to source renewable gas. Conventional gas is so cheap, that we are really going to increase costs to make this happen. And it's a risk because we have to build new things that utilities have never built before. An industry that's all about stable, reliable business models - now has to do R&D. This is a good thing. But because of the risks and the newness of all of this, there has to be public pressure to move. We need carbon taxes and we need to elect leaders that routinely talk about climate change. A lot of places on the west coast have this, and it's what convinces big entrenched interests that they have to do something.

[@holyflutterofgod]

Woah!! An actual perspective from someone Hank was referring to in the video?!? +!!!!

[@jeffcrumpler8905]

Hank, I like you. But dammit if you didn't miss the point. We live under an economic system that values profitability above all else. Capitalism. When people say a small number of businesses are contributing to the majority of carbon emissions they aren't just blindly blaming those businesses because they don't understand how supply and demand work. They're referencing the nature of business. Not switching to eco friendly options because it costs too much money is a huge problem. Our methods of producing goods and services values a made up thing (money) above human lives. And when you talk about how much money it could save in the long run you are needlessly pandering to the elite. It should not matter what is more expensive because expensive is a made up concept. What should matter are people and they just don't matter to these corporations. Sure we're complacent by buying their stuff, but this society we live in indoctrinates us constantly telling us via advertising we need these things to be happy. And what's more is we often require these things to survive in today's world. You can't tell your landlord you don't have any money because you don't have a job because you choose not to have a car because it's not environmentally friendly. They don't care. They will evict you. Also if i remember correctly the first time I saw that stat it was in a journal about how poorer, "overpopulated" countries contribute almost nothing to climate change. Framed as a counterargument for the myth that overpopulation is a leading cause of climate change.

[@aeron6747]

2:30+ Kinda seems like you’re thinking about this just from your own perspective/experience, as someone who could choose to not buy things from the largest most powerful companies because you have enough money to choose. But a lot of people don’t have that choice. The people in power, and companies with enough money to have lots of political influence, make it so people are dependent on them - through a lack of a living wage, subsidies for giant corporations to keep their goods cheaper, etc.. and then the people who are stuck within the system are blamed for the system, which is actually perpetuated by people in power/the status quo... I’m all for people changing their individual behavior if they can. But we should be cognizant of the ways in which power structures have influence over choice/management/development/etc...

[@altrocks]

+

[@aeron6747]

Like I said, I’m all for people changing their behavior if they can. I was just trying to say that individuals within a system shouldn’t be blamed for the consequences of the system, especially if there is corruption, corporate subsidies, a lack of a living wage, etc. In my opinion change needs to happen at all levels, but sometimes there are national/institutional barriers to local/individual change

[@aeron6747]

At least in the US, the government props up destructive industries, here’s one industry example www.google.com/amp/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/energy-and-environment/2017/10/6/16428458/us-energy-coal-oil-subsidies *people* created the systems, but the people in power are doing their best to maintain those systems. We shouldn’t blame people who are living paycheck to paycheck. Go ahead and get mad at people who can afford to change their behavior yet don’t, but it’ll be a hell of a lot easier to make progress when there’s institutional change. My town in the US used to have public transit, but then car companies lobbied and fought to have it taken out. They succeeded, and for a long time we didn’t have public transit. We do now, but it’s still an uphill battle because development was shaped around individual/family vehicles where I live.. that’s just one example of how companies have directly impacted people’s choice

[@JadeDRail]

I must admit I was buying in to the "it's all their fault" thing for a while. But it's because I kind of feel helpless to do anything. But yeh what you say makes totalsense. And I'll redouble my efforts to reduce my footprint.

[@01claudLO]

the truest human end to any video

[@professorthread]

THANK YOU for mentioning personal responsibility. If you have the means to make better, more sustainable choices, why aren't you? I understand that there's barriers for people to make more sustainable choices (money, time, etc), but there are lots of people who create demand for unsustainable things that have the ability to make better choices. Do what you can. Please make better choices or we will see major consequences within our lifetime.

[@aigledemasyaf]

I clicked this video and was greeted with a lovely belch. I . . . don't know what I expected.

[@keitadarkwolf2591]

Lets look at where it all started. Why did we start using electricity in the first place? It wasn't because we needed it. At the time, we could produce it, sure... but what would we use it for? So to sell people electricity, we had to sell things to use it on. We had to sell a lifestyle. A lifestyle in which machines made life easier so we'd have more time to do the things we really wanted to do. If you want to sell the green economy, it needs to be more appealing than what we have right now - and frankly? It simply isn't. Until it is, people simply are not going to spend their hard-earned money on it. Any why should they? Why should they be the ones to make that sacrifice? Nobody alive today ever had a choice in whether or not to participate in the economy the way it is now. Sad fact is, if you are in a position to make more responsible choices, that's a position of priviledge. You can afford to buy vegan organic, an environmentally friendly home and drive a Tesla. That choice isn't available to 99% of the population. We simply don't have a choice. If you want to work, you have to be able to get there and communicate and sleep somewhere and eat. If you want things to change, you have to either make your green economy affordable and desirable to everyone... or break the system as we know it. I don't see the rich and powerful standing for either option, so good luck.

[@altrocks]

Electric light bulbs replaced millions of oil and gas lamps in both public and private usages. Those lamps often caused fires that had catastrophic consequences. Not to mention electricity more safely heating homes to keep people alive through cold winters, where coal, wood, oil, and gas heating had previously been the only solutions. Electric appliances often replaced or augmented existing tools, such as ovens, to make them more efficient and accurate, not to mention safer. Electricity also allowed the advent of microcomputing so that we don't need a house sized mechanical monstrosity just to do the job of a pocket calculator.

[@keitadarkwolf2591]

This is all true, but I very much doubt that Edison had microcomputing in mind when his company started building some of the first electric infrastructure. I also rather doubt that those worthy folks were driven by altruism - nor would the general public buy into new technology for that reason only. To make selling electricity to the general public viable, there had to be stuff to use it on, meaning you had to have cool stuff already there to justify getting a connection. In effect, you had to sell the lifestyle as a whole, and make it desirable. Marketing. Which still holds true today. You still have to sell the lifestyle to get people to buy the stuff. Nobody's going to buy Kim Kardashian's stuff without first buying into the Kim Kardashian lifestyle. My point is... if you want to get people off of the cycle of mindlessly buying stuff, you have to have an alternative they'll want more... or else break down the entire apparatus of industry and marketing, buying and selling, making money above all else. And that choice isn't up to us. Or rather... it is, but exercising that choice is unlikely to end well for anyone. The people with their hands on the controls of the economy and the political power money brings are extremely unlikely to just give that up, one way or ther other. History shows us that peaceful change almost never happens, and even where it does happen, it doesn't mean that there won't be other problems to contend with. In almost every case, change came at the cost of lives.

[@altrocks]

In this case, refusing to change will also cost lives. Maybe that's something people have to come to terms with so they can begin making the hard decisions that are needed.

[@keitadarkwolf2591]

I love how, when the cost is pointed out, it becomes about other people making the hard decisions. It's kinda like certain politicians going "we'd like the right to discriminate! ... OH! No! we didn't mean discriminate against US! Against other people!" Same thing here. I'd like for those who call on others to make sacrifices to be the first ones to actually MAKE it. Down to and including their lives if necessary.

[@krellend20]

I'm really kind of tired of rich people whining about how expensive fixing the world's problems are when global wealth outstrips said costs. The money is there to fix them, you just prefer hoarding it to using it.

[@minerva4275]

+

[@emessar]

I vaguely remember a story about how Kansas and other states in the midwest were going through the Dust Bowl. Early environmentalists had proposed that it was due to farming reducing the number of windbreaks on the plains. There were a lot of debates back and forth in congress, and a lot of doubt that we were the cause and enacting the proposed changes were going to cost a lot of money. Eventually it came time to vote on it and the dust storms from the Midwest had grown so large that they would drift on the wind for days. On the day of the vote a massive cloud of dust could be seen on the western horizon in Washington D.C. They voted for the soil conservation act in 1935 and it managed to turn things around. I'm not sure what cloud you need to turn around not just Congress but society. I feel like some of us are trying, but change is not as fast as it needs to be and it sounds like global climate change may be a much larger boat to steer than the dust bowl was.

[@osmia]

Getting close to 5 years since you put this out. Any chance for an updated one on your thoughts?

[@sarahgrin]

I started watching this at the same time I put on Sufjan Stevens’ album “Illinois” in the background, and they went together a surprising amount. 🎵❤️

[@TFirsty]

I've been really invested in the idea of how to even start on the problem of climate change in the energy perspective. All in all, it seems impossible to even get started without massive investment in Nuclear. It's high investment long return, low carbon emmisions consistent safe power. Yeah there are problems, but there isn't enough money to build a billion wind turbines. We have to take what we can for now and give us time to develop better tech for the future, and nuclear seems the way to do that to me.

[@ehrenloudermilk1053]

Consumer level is less the culprit that we believe it to be. I drive a forklift at a beverage bottling factory. As of today there was 109 pallets of unsweetened tea past date and scheduled for destruction. Each of those pallets consists of 94 cases of 18 plastic bottles. We were also making more unsweetened tea today. Something like 230 more pallets.

[@Sehrafina369]

I had no idea that every Google search released carbon!! Lord, I'm probably single handedly bringing the change just cause I search so damn often!

[@ShirinRose]

Coincidentally, I got an ad before this video for Ecosia, which is a search engine like Google that plants trees every time someone searches something on it.

[@Sehrafina369]

@@ShirinRose oh wow! Maybe I should start using that lol!

[@sexyscientist]

Shirin Rose If Google starts doing that, the whole earth will become Amazon forest in a day.😂😂😂 -Read as, it is not practical. If Ecosia's turnover increases, they will not be able to do it-

[@Sehrafina369]

@@sexyscientist Make America Forest Again

[@TwiStedTentom]

@@Sehrafina369 It sounds better than the concrete jungle I'm envisioning if our current path continues.

[@chrisforsyth8323]

At a micro level, I once had a veteran in my urban transportation industry remark that "Every warning sign out here was paid for in blood. Up front." We don't, generally, choose to pay for 'unnecessary' fixes until we feel, in our own guts, that they are truly broken.

[@pierregabory8772]

Frankly I've given up hope on climate change. It's been too late for any reaction for decades. We're going to hit the wall full speed. Now I just want to know how to get the best helmet on. Which country will be the best to live in? Which industry will benefit from it? Stuff like that.

[@dr.zoidberg8666]

Personally, I'm still optimistic about our chances to solve this problem. We're already verging on a world that no longer produces new gas or diesel vehicles... that future is already visible, & I think it's going to come a lot sooner than most people think. The same goes for renewable energies -- & _particularly_ solar. The cost of solar is falling like an information technology (That is to say, cost performance is improving exponentially), & battery cost is falling at just about the same rate, though it's a little earlier on the curve. Last I saw, global market share of solar energy production was reliably doubling every 2 years or so. It seems like that trend is chugging along nicely (such that even gas & oil companies are predicting peak oil demand within the next decade or so & are buying up renewable energy sources accordingly), & if the current trend holds steady, we're on track to see a world entirely powered by renewables by the year 2030. And even if it slows down, I can't imagine that we won't have a majority renewable global energy grid by 2030. In addition to that, there are dozens of clean meats companies racing to become the new meat production market leader & to make the commercial raising of animals entirely economically unviable. We've got increasingly powerful AI systems that can help to optimize the performance & energy efficiency of just about any kind of electrical system that you could imagine -- crunching data like we never could have before & putting that new information to very good use. We've got dozens more companies working to further develop carbon sequestering technology (or just planting good ol' fashioned trees everywhere they can) to extend our timeline & give us the time we need to solve the problems that we're facing. Human ingenuity has never let us down before, & it looks like the whole world is wide awake & working on a solution -- better yet, economics has aligned itself with the good side of the equation... for the first time in at least the last 250 years, what is good for investors is the same as what is good for the environment. Bad economic models never defeat good economic models. Tradition never defeats progress (at least, not economically speaking). Yes, we're up against the wall, but the signs are good that we're up to the challenge.

[@rebeccaedwards7270]

Thank you for the hope you have just given me.😁

[@barry1434]

"Us/Them-ing" is one of the things that humans do best (see "Behave" by Robert Sapolsky)- and this is probably one of the biggest barriers to addressing climate change in a rational and realistic fashion. Another big issue is the motivated reasoning; specifically, as called out in the video, there are huge economic incentives to deny the reality of the coming devastation of climate change. Indeed, we are not likely to treat climate refugees well. But, there are simple steps like a carbon tax that can start to shift behavior, and start to pay for the mitigation that will be necessary. It is a simple step, but hugely complicated politics. In the US, it is not impossible to elect politicians who are willing to pay attention to the science and make better policy choices. But, here again, the Us/Them-ing makes the politics really complicated. We haven't even taken on how militarism leads us to misdirect massive technical resources away from livingry towards killingry (see "Critical Path" by Buckminster Fuller).

[@itisisa]

I'd like to see you make a video that's more specific about what things individuals can do about this. What are we doing daily that we should be more aware of? Eating meat, driving G-Wagens, etc.

[@strykerten560]

The cheapest option to offset your annual emissions is to donate to projects that reduce emissions. Ill link the UNs page on it below, there are a bunch of links to different projects you can donate to that reduce emissions. You should be able to be emissions neutral by donating 1 dollar a week. For me, 3 dollars a week is enough for my whole household to be solidly in the negative offset.climateneutralnow.org/

[@mrmjdza]

You said in the vlog brothers video that this was a really long video but it flew by for me :)

[@alikhalid4677]

this video was long awaited

[@chris-hayes]

The problem with the act of blaming (pretty much universally) is a lack of interest in working towards a solution, a deflection in responsibility. I suppose if we can agree to all take responsibility for this problem, we can better work together to find a solution.

[@V1ctoria00]

Can we become steadily more aquatic and focus on cleansing the overabundance of water that floods us? Can we then rely on the oceans for the power and sustainability we will need? Because we did sign up for waterworld. Cant we just own it?

[@NeiroAtOpelCC]

I'm slightly optimistic. I think if we can get governments on board with thorium reactors, they will, along with solar and wind power, be able to power the world with relatively low impacts on the environment. We really ought to not move from coal to gas though - fracking ruins the ground water, and water's quite a bit more important than electricity or heating. Edit: I forgot to mention - we have once before worked hard to avoid something before we experienced the reason to do it. I remember long days and nights at the end of 1999 where we ran around to patch and update computers, because we were afraid it'd all come crashing down if we didn't. At the end of the year, nothing of significance happened, because everybody did what we did.

[@aaroNiGHTS]

Wait, can nuclear power plants regulate how much power they make? Insert the control rods? Or are they always on always producing the same amount of power?

[@strykerten560]

You can change the power output, but its not a fast process. Generally a nuclear power plant only has some of the reactors running at any given moment. If you needed more power, you could get another one running, but it takes time to get the fuel rod loaded and whatnot. Likewise it takes time to bring a reactor to a stop. By comparison you can pretty much switch a gas fired reactor on and off at will. If you want to stop it you just cut the gas flow and its stopped. If you want to start it you just turn the valve and get the gas flowing again

[@ethanwilliams4]

Yes, they can control the power output, in fact many Westinghouse reactors were designed with partial length control rods specifically to allow for load following. However due to thermal cycling, fuel efficiencies, and whatnot, it's not a practice that is used today in the US.

[@sadique]

Hank! I am super curious about if you have any thoughts about Prop 112 in Colorado. It seems like it has wider implications depending on what happens with it here. The rhetoric on both sides is so hyperbolic, I would love to hear a more nuanced and complex take on it.

[@Tapakapa]

0:01 Off to a good start.

[@jonaswolterstorff3460]

Interesting that even Hank, CEO (?) of “Complexly” mixes up complicated and complex. Earth is NOT a complicated system (at least not only) but rather a _very_ complex one. (A complex system adapts when it’s interrupted, a complicated one breaks down.) Also, Hank, I’d love to hear you speak about Paul Hawken’s Drawdown.org. It’s a similar mixture of realism and optimism as I know and love from you and your brother.