[redpoint5]

I'm always a fan of killing 2 stones with 1 bird.

That makes me wonder if running the electrical cables to electrify trains could double as interstate power transfer infrastructure? Provide a means of transporting goods electrically and build a more interconnected and robust power grid at the same time.

I do think our focus on EVs (seen as the perfect) is detracting from things like PHEV (plug-in hybrid vehicles) or as you point out, natural gas or other "cleaner" fuels.

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

II believe the scientists that say that global warming is a problem. If global warming is just a scam and therefore I can't believe the scientists, then who can I believe??

Science can make predictions and record results, and nothing more. It doesn't say what is good or bad.

Scientism attempts to extend the utility of the best method of making predictions we have, the scientific method, into systems so complex that the amount of arbitrary assumptions that must be made render the results nearly meaningless.

Politicians then pounce on the imagined (so far) threat to seize authority (power) and resources (money) to further their agendas.

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

What are practical solutions and what are false solutions? All I see among politicians are those who feel there is a problem and think they can fix it so make more restrictions, and those who say there isn't a problem and so loosen the restrictions. I don't think ignoring the problem and loosening restrictions is a practical solution. I don't think there is a practical solution. And politicians aren't the only ones with wants and desires. People in general have their own goals and desires. Telling them something they don't want to hear isn't easy. Just because everyone wants to drive a car doesn't make it harmless.

It's easier to identify terrible ideas because they lack any specific stated goals, lack any evidence of efficacy, and address a symptom rather than the problem.

The EV tax credit embodies every one of those deficiencies in thought. What is the specific stated goal? How much CO2 has been prevented from being released to the atmosphere because of the credit? How does the subsidy directly address burning of fossil fuels? No cost/benefit analysis was done, and if it was, they aren't releasing the info because nobody would stand for a 0.0000000001 C delay in global temperature rise at the cost of trillions of dollars. As an aside, it's a regressive tax policy that benefits the wealthy.

The best ideas have a stated goal, the results can be measured, and addresses the problem most directly.

As I continuously say, IF the problem is burning of fossil fuels, then the most effective, measurable, and direct way to address it is to slowly introduce progressive taxation.

If cars and power plants and the like are destroying the planet and the quickest solution is to just stop driving, using electricity, etc., how do you implement that without disrupting the average Joe's life? If scientists say we need to reverse the damage done wouldn't measures that only lessen the damage being done still be damaging? I don't think there is a practical solution. I don't think EVs are the solution. I don't think public transportation is the solution. I really don't know what mankind can do about it.

Uncertainty is the beginning of wisdom.

The only research that gets funding is the type that looks for problems. Who is funding research to enumerate the positive effects of global warming?

Since the globe was warming before the industrial revolution (we're still exiting the most recent ice age, a period of uncommon coldness), at what point did warming go from being beneficial to humanity to being detrimental? How is that point measured?

There isn't a single solution because there isn't a single problem. Rapid environmental change stresses the species encountering the change. We'll adapt in a myriad of ways and possibly thrive in the process just like we've done in our relatively short history.

I don't think politicians have the ability to fix the problem. If people are hooked on electricity and automobiles and we've already pumped too much CO2 into the atmosphere, what can be done? Build fireproof, hurricaneproof and tornadoproof houses and cars I guess and just continue as we have.

Adaptation is the greatest strength of our species. Easier to modify our microenvironments like our homes than to tweak the outdoor thermostat.