[ExI] Apocalypse Soon: Has Civilization Passed the Environmental Point of No Return?

[Adrian Tymes]

On Fri, Jun 8, 2012 at 1:05 AM, Eugen Leitl <eugen at leitl.org> wrote:
> Meadows holds that collapse is now all but inevitable, but that its actual
> form will be too complex for any model to predict.

Unverifiable hypothesis, check.

Ability to move the goalposts when civilization stubbornly
refuses to collapse worldwide, check.

Really, why is this even noteworthy?

> Many observers protest that such apocalyptic scenarios discount human
> ingenuity. Technology and markets will solve problems as they show up, they
> argue. But for that to happen, contends economist Partha Dasgupta of the
> University of Cambridge in the U.K., policymakers must guide technology with
> the right incentives.

Right enough.  They don't need to be perfect.  Of
course, one could argue that we need a $1M/gallon
gasoline tax and even that wouldn't be enough.  Or
one could accept that said incentives are already
being placed out there - and that if we continue on
the current general track, even with occasional
setbacks, we can solve it.

But no, that doesn't have the emotional release
of, "we're all doomed unless everyone does
exactly what I say (which can't happen if my
demands are impossible to fully satisfy)".

> as long as, for instance,
> automobile consumers do not pay for lives lost from extreme climatic
> conditions caused by warming from their vehicles' carbon emissions

Perfect example.  How, exactly, does one
pay for lives lost?  If in money, who decides
the amount?  What happens when - not if -
people disagree whether sufficient payment
has been made?

> technology
> will continue to produce resource-intensive goods and worsen the burden on
> the ecosystem, Dasgupta argues.

Like solar panels and wind farms. One can
argue they're as bad or worse than the
dirtiest petroleum-fueled plants.  One would
be utterly wrong, but the argument can be
made.

No, seriously, why even post this drivel?
We've all seen it too many times already.