I meant that I assert that the profligate use of fossil fuels harms people whether you realize it or not. But it obviously doesn't feel like an activity you should be blamed for, because no specific people are harmed, much, by such actions.
It's not merely automotive enthusiasts who do such things. Nearly everyone thinks they're a special case. That really worries me.
To get a sense of the scale of things, the north pole ice-cap has receded so much in the summer that the increase albedo is putting incredible train on the greenland icecaps. If they melt, hundreds of millions of people in low lying coastal regions, such as Bangladesh, will be displaced. It could be averted if people refrained from heating all of their massive homes in winter instead of wearing a sweater and driving in two tons of steel and glass to get to the shopping mall and riding in a Lamborgini or an SUV or a big F-500 truck because it feels good to them. Because it almost doesn't matter what happens to technology in the next few decades, unless our attitudes change, we will find ourselves in a major environmental mess.
It's the difference between Kant's categorical imperative and the game-theoretic optimal action. "Responsibility" means lowering your personal utility just because if everyone did as you do, everyone's personal utility would be higher.
...personally, I just hypermile when I'm forced to drive, and ride a 45mpg, 3 second 0-60 motorcycle other times. I trade off expected lifespan instead of externalized environmental effects for my automotive enjoyment.
It's not merely automotive enthusiasts who do such things. Nearly everyone thinks they're a special case. That really worries me.
To get a sense of the scale of things, the north pole ice-cap has receded so much in the summer that the increase albedo is putting incredible train on the greenland icecaps. If they melt, hundreds of millions of people in low lying coastal regions, such as Bangladesh, will be displaced. It could be averted if people refrained from heating all of their massive homes in winter instead of wearing a sweater and driving in two tons of steel and glass to get to the shopping mall and riding in a Lamborgini or an SUV or a big F-500 truck because it feels good to them. Because it almost doesn't matter what happens to technology in the next few decades, unless our attitudes change, we will find ourselves in a major environmental mess.