Climate Change May Usher in a New Era of Trade Wars

[pixy0stix]

GIFT LINK HERE

It's a long article that just scratches the surface of the problem. I, frankly, don't expect to get any responses to the thread, but thought I'd throw it out there just to get people thinking.

My key thoughts are:
1. Yes, we need to start manufacturing items in a more sustainable way
2. We, in the US, fucked up and continue to fuck up with our consumption. People here in general are going to start getting shock after shock as things start disappearing
3. The overlap between D goals and R goals here should make things easier, but it's not
4. I'm all for moving manufacturing back to the states, but where are we going to find workers? Hyundai was already busted for using immigrant kids in it's manufacturing plant in the US.
5. WE HAD LITERAL DECADES TO START THIS ALL MOVING AND WE SAT ON OUR ASSES!

[smock]

On your #5, we not only sat on our asses, we actively made it worse. The rise of fast fashion is the first example that comes to mind, but in so many areas we're buying more stuff at a higher environmental cost for less money.

Which makes me think of a friend who's an interior designer. She sources furniture and home goods made locally with local materials. But as you can imagine, it's $$$ and her clients are loaded. At the other end of the economic spectrum, adding tariffs on goods made with lower environmental standards will mainly hurt people with less buying power. Unless we can somehow increase wages.

Tackling climate change feels like taking on a hydra, because there's always more heads.

[sillygoosegirl]

Thanks for sharing. I've been saying we should do this since I was a teenager, so I'm glad to see that maybe it's finally going to happen. That really gives me hope. It's frustrating that there has been so much inaction for so long, and I'm sure there are a ton of challenges, complexities, and pain points that I do not fully understand, but the 2nd best time is still now.

[aurora]

I think you make a good point about the rich starting to wake up when stuff can't be found that used to be easily accessible, not even considering price increases.

Empty grocery store shelves during COVID was a wake up call, and continued difficulty sourcing things today (see: eggs) is a good reminder that there are actual supply chains behind our relatively cushy way of life, and that they are not very robust to disruption.

[audette]

Once upon a time, the climate change situation had folks salivating at the opening of the northwest passage. It was something looked at with anticipation, for the easier routing of shipped goods.


Now, not so much... This was an interesting read. It's hard to figure the right solution for it all - things are so tangled together now. I think the biggest part of all of it is that we need to consume less. Less stuff, less clothes, less out of season foods, less cheap crap that is going to fall apart or get destroyed in a blink...

[wawa]

I just really wish people could get on board with the idea that our entire lives are going to narrow and slow down in some crazy ways if we want to do anythign about climate change. And like...I can't really say I GAF about pissing off China or the EU when it comes to putting tarifs on high carbon impact goods/shipping?

Like good. Put a retaliatory tarif on our goods too! You should be figuring out how to make and sell things domestically too! Fuck!
Being mad that you're losing out on the US market in order for us not HELP KILL THE PLANET SOME MORE seems to fucking deeply and frustratingly short sighted.

[pixy0stix]

Jan 25, 2023 23:38:20 GMT -5 aurora said:

I think you make a good point about the rich starting to wake up when stuff can't be found that used to be easily accessible, not even considering price increases.

It's not even the rich. I think people are going to be surprised to walk into Target or Walmart and find most of the shelves empty. Our selection of "stuff" is going to go down significantly.

[Velar Fricative]

I mean, do we really need so much stuff? I know the answer in America is yes, but still.

It's a third rail to mention that consumption just needs to decrease and we need to make choices before choices are made for us, and stores will need to downsize and sell fewer products, but there's no way around that and that seem pretty clear to me now. And yes, fast fashion comes to mind for me too. But we gotta fill all those walk-in closets in those McMansions with something!!

And I know this is long-delayed and I shouldn't have taken this long to consider my food sources, but I'm finally thinking about what I'm eating, when I'm eating it and where it's coming from. I know small countries will basically have to still import stuff, but this is the US, and maybe I should cut out avocados and shit if they can't be grown within a few hours of where I live.

And also, we need to share more shit - among family, neighbors, through libraries, through rental companies, etc. Not every house needs XYZ when it's something that may only rarely be used. But I guess that's too socialist.

[aurora]

Jan 26, 2023 13:09:53 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Jan 25, 2023 23:38:20 GMT -5 aurora said:

I think you make a good point about the rich starting to wake up when stuff can't be found that used to be easily accessible, not even considering price increases.

It's not even the rich. I think people are going to be surprised to walk into Target or Walmart and find most of the shelves empty. Our selection of "stuff" is going to go down significantly.

I should have said *even* the rich. People with fewer means will obviously notice price increases and shortages more and sooner.