Astrid and I live modestly. We don’t own an automobile or a television. Our small apartment is warmed with thermal heating and powered by renewable electricity. We buy most of our food from the local farmers’ market. Our bicycles are our primary means of transportation. We strive to maintain a minimal ecological footprint and enjoy … Continue reading Pumpkin Seed Oil
Flight shame reloaded
One of my earliest posts back in October 2019 was about flight shame. I wrote it in the international departures terminal of Frankfurt Airport waiting for a flight to the United States. My return flight a week later was my last time on a plane. As data from Eurocontrol shows, in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic … Continue reading Flight shame reloaded
Plastics reloaded
Last October I posted about excessive plastic food packaging. Today I am revisiting the topic based on a recent article in my daily newspaper, Die Presse. Citing a study conducted by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), they reported that less packaging does not always have a better climate balance. The … Continue reading Plastics reloaded
Responsibility reloaded
Two posts ago I examined how stopping profligate bread waste could reduce C02 emissions. Earlier in a comment to my post on climate change responsibility, Jordan had astutely noted that while consumers bear some responsibility in reducing emissions major corporations should also be held accountable. Today I will explore how assigning responsibility to both consumers … Continue reading Responsibility reloaded
Our daily bread and GHG emissions
As examined in recent posts, one reason that people lack motivation in addressing climate change is that they have difficulty in conceptualizing how their actions can affect amorphous global problems. Wearing your clothes longer or driving less doesn’t result in a discernible reduction in GHG emissions. We need help in quantifying how our individual actions … Continue reading Our daily bread and GHG emissions
Climate change and FMGCs
Following up on my last post, today I want to examine the importance of narratives in getting people – especially Europeans since I’m Austrian – involved in climate change activism. First, it is important to note that current inaction is not because people reject climate science. Europeans overwhelmingly agree that “the climate is probably or … Continue reading Climate change and FMGCs
Climate Change Responsibility
In my last post I posed the question: Who specifically is responsible for addressing climate change and reducing GHG emissions? Today I provide one possible answer. I believe that considerable, if not the brunt of, responsibility ought to lie with consumers. However, it is unlikely that individuals accustomed to unlimited choice among a glut of … Continue reading Climate Change Responsibility
Who is responsible?
When I started studying political, economic, and legal philosophy at the University of Graz just for fun, little did I know that climate change would play a prominent role in the curriculum. Now in my fourth semester, I have had the opportunity to examine the urgings and arguments of diverse researchers – philosophers, economists, climate … Continue reading Who is responsible?
The dangers of Once-lerism
I missed a couple of blogging days last week because I was participating in a climate risk course sponsored by the Arqus European University Alliance. I mentioned the seminar in a previous post where I argued that currently living people in industrialized nations have a collective responsibility to take immediate and significant action for mitigating … Continue reading The dangers of Once-lerism
The Cat and climate change
One of my favorite books is The Cat in the Hat. I love how the Cat in the pursuit of “lots of good fun that is funny” releases Things 1 and 2 in the unnamed narrator’s house to wreak havoc. Meanwhile, the superego pet fish repeatedly urges the narrator and his sister Sally to toss … Continue reading The Cat and climate change
