4 votes

Planet of the Humans

3 comments

  1. [2]
    Autoxidation
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    So I'm about 35 minutes into this so far and part of it really irks me. Some of the people being interviewed talk about how these replacement facilities like the big solar array in California...

    So I'm about 35 minutes into this so far and part of it really irks me. Some of the people being interviewed talk about how these replacement facilities like the big solar array in California still require natural gas, or construction materials to build and operate. But there's no mention or comparison to what the carbon footprint is of something like this versus what it was built to replace, only that these kinds of generation facilities also require fossil fuels, so they are deceptive at best or equally bad. Do they only require 10% of the same amount of fossil fuels? 25%? 50%? 80%? Context is important here, and it's being omitted and I don't like that at all.

    I've seen similar arguments against electric cars, such as they take twice the carbon emissions to build than an ICE vehicle, which is probably true, but omits that most of an ICE vehicle's carbon footprint is its operating lifespan, while an EV's operating carbon emissions are entirely dependent on where it gets its energy. If it's 100% from solar the only carbon footprint the EV has is tire wear. On the average US electrical grid it only takes 3 years for the EV to have a lower carbon footprint than an average ICE vehicle. The 2015 report Cleaner Cars from Cradle to Grave goes into great detail about this.

    My overall point here is we really shouldn't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I suspect the rest of this film will be pushing more sustainable ways of living, and while a noble goal, it is entirely unrealistic to expect such a consumer driven population to adopt immense, radical, lifestyle change quickly. It's a message that should be promoted, but it should be hand-in-hand with improving existing infrastructure and what most consumers are used to, and definitely shouldn't be bashing improvements because they aren't perfect enough of a solution.

    3 votes
    1. [2]
      Comment deleted by author
      Link Parent
      1. Autoxidation
        Link Parent
        The UCSA actually looked at that exact question and came the the conclusion that even with the least favorable numbers for EVs and on the dirtiest US grid, EVs are still cleaner than the average...

        The UCSA actually looked at that exact question and came the the conclusion that even with the least favorable numbers for EVs and on the dirtiest US grid, EVs are still cleaner than the average compact vehicle.

        They also have a neat tool for checking zip codes and different vehicles.

        The NYTimes has a great visualization of how each state produces electricity with more recent data than your map. Natural gas has seen a large surge in the past 7 years, mostly replacing coal.

        5 votes
  2. Autoxidation
    Link
    Ok, so I somehow sat through all of this today. Overall it was a pretty mixed bag, the beginning is riddled with some of the false equivalencies I noted in my other post here, but there was no...

    Ok, so I somehow sat through all of this today. Overall it was a pretty mixed bag, the beginning is riddled with some of the false equivalencies I noted in my other post here, but there was no greater push for sustainability or even recommendations for it, really. There were also repeated mentions of "the overpopulation problem" which very easily leads to the alt-right path of eugenics. I think there were some legitimate criticisms of the biofuel and biomass industries, and that was probably the only actually decent piece of this entire film. It offers no solutions or suggestions, just "billionaires bad, capitalism bad, everything sucks" (which I mostly agree with). The end features footage of a rainforest being bulldozed and burned and focuses on orangutans, one of which is found at the end, dying. Kind of NSFL.

    3 votes