[MCN] Consumer debt --> consumer spending --> climate change

Sat Aug 21 17:31:32 EDT 2021

"The big challenge is still to deliver emissions reductions at the pace and scale needed, especially in a world where economies are driven by consumption.”

Sonja van Renssen.The inconvenient truth of failed climate policies. Nature Climate Change  MAY 2018

Published online: 27 April 2018 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0155-4 

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“The US economy is based on debt-financed overconsumption, while China’s is based on debt-financed overinvestment.”

South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3040618/federal-reserve-prolonging-trade-war-keeping-biggest-financial

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“Despite recognizing the downsides of debt, the lure of spending remains strong.  After covering off on necessities, Americans said 40% of their monthly income goes toward discretionary spending on entertainment, leisure travel, hobbies, etc. In fact, when asked what financial pitfalls they are prone to, one quarter of Americans flagged ‘excessive/frivolous’ spending.”

https://www.northwesternmutual.com/about-us/studies/planning-and-progress-study-2017

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It Is Possible to Satisfy Humanity's Universal Needs Fairly and Keep the World Livable? <https://info.commondreams.org/acton/ct/33231/s-1084-2108/Bct/q-003a/l-sf-lead-0014:1bc74/ct12_0/1/lu?sid=TV2%3AIhkXGS0Ji>

by Stan Cox 
Given the current climate emergency and the broader ecological breakdown that looms, there are few issues more pressing than that expressed by the single word: enough.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/08/16/it-possible-satisfy-humanitys-universal-needs-fairly-and-keep-world-livable? <https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/08/16/it-possible-satisfy-humanitys-universal-needs-fairly-and-keep-world-livable?>

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Bloomberg     August 16, 2021

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-08-15/climate-change-action-is-hard-because-no-one-wants-to-sacrifice <https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-08-15/climate-change-action-is-hard-because-no-one-wants-to-sacrifice>

What Are You Willing to Sacrifice to Stop Climate Change?
The real obstacles to addressing greenhouse gas emissions are not the politicians, the billionaires or even the oil companies. The real obstacles are the voters themselves.

Excerpts : Concern about climate change, while real and widespread, is also alarmingly shallow. Voters want action on climate, but not action of the sort that would cause anything they buy to become more expensive.

If you’re a climate hawk, it’s easy to be mad at politicians for their timidity in the face of an urgent crisis. But there’s also genuinely no point in asking ecologically minded elected officials to fall on their swords and lose elections over unpopular ideas, turning over control of the government to people whose ideas are much worse.

All of this leads to a difficult truth: The problem here lies not with the politicians, or even with the billionaires or oil companies. It lies with voters themselves, who recognize that climate change is a real problem but are not necessarily willing to sacrifice much of anything to tackle it.

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The Guardian Mon 16 Aug 2021 
Cooling consumerism could save the climate
Bill Kingdom says the battle against Covid provides lessons in how to cut consumption to ease global warming. 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/16/cooling-consumerism-could-save-the-climate

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NorthWestern Energy asks Hamilton residents to conserve energy <https://news.google.com/articles/CBMiYGh0dHBzOi8vbmJjbW9udGFuYS5jb20vbmV3cy9sb2NhbC9ub3J0aHdlc3Rlcm4tZW5lcmd5LWFza3MtaGFtaWx0b24tcmVzaWRlbnRzLXRvLWNvbnNlcnZlLWVuZXJnedIBZGh0dHBzOi8vbmJjbW9udGFuYS5jb20vYW1wL25ld3MvbG9jYWwvbm9ydGh3ZXN0ZXJuLWVuZXJneS1hc2tzLWhhbWlsdG9uLXJlc2lkZW50cy10by1jb25zZXJ2ZS1lbmVyZ3k?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen>
NBC Montana

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From Energy Transition to Energy Reduction <https://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-05-20/from-energy-transition-to-energy-reduction/>
By Chris Smaje
My request to those working in the renewable energy industry is to ask themselves before undertaking any new project: “Will this help people to live a lower energy lifestyle than they previously did?” – which, regrettably, is not something we can say of the low carbon energy installed globally to date. If they can’t answer yes to the question, I’d request they dump the project and seek another one. It’s urgent.

<<https://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-05-20/from-energy-transition-to-energy-reduction/ <https://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-05-20/from-energy-transition-to-energy-reduction/>>>

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Lasting coastal hazards from past greenhouse gas emissions <https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/11/06/1917051116>
Tony E. Wong

The emission of greenhouse gases into Earth’s atmosphere is a by-product of modern marvels such as the production of vast amounts of energy, heating and cooling inhospitable environments to be amenable to human existence, and traveling great distances faster than our saddle-sore ancestors ever dreamed possible. 

However, these luxuries come at a price: climate changes in the form of severe droughts, extreme precipitation and temperatures, increased frequency of flooding in coastal cities, global warming, and sea-level rise (1, 2). 
This is the price we pay for the luxury of about 200 y of relatively unchecked greenhouse gas emissions.

PNAS first published November 7, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1917051116 <https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1917051116>

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Pandemic and digitalization set stage for revival of a cast-off idea: personal carbon allowances
Peer-Reviewed Publication <https://www.eurekalert.org/releaseguidelines>
KTH, ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/925295

Excerpts : Publishing in Nature Sustainability on the heels of the IPCC’s sobering recent report, the researchers found … opportunity to reconsider an idea that had once been rejected as being “ahead of its time”, as the UK government put it.”

“It is not about shifting the mitigation responsibility from governments and big industries to individuals. It is about adding individuals to the effort,” Parag says.’

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"This buck stops everywhere."

<<https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/06/25/caught-in-a-trap-of-our-own-making-climate-change-blame-and-denial/ <https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/06/25/caught-in-a-trap-of-our-own-making-climate-change-blame-and-denial/>>>

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Paying With a Credit Card? It’s Going to Cost You. <https://www.wsj.com/articles/paying-with-a-credit-card-thats-going-to-cost-you-11629378047?mod=hp_lista_pos5>
 <https://www.wsj.com/articles/paying-with-a-credit-card-thats-going-to-cost-you-11629378047?mod=hp_lista_pos5>
More small businesses—and even some larger ones—are charging shoppers a fee for credit-card purchases or offering them discounts when they pay with debit cards, cash or checks.201 <https://www.wsj.com/articles/paying-with-a-credit-card-thats-going-to-cost-you-11629378047?mod=hp_lista_pos5#comments_sector>6 min read

The Wall Street Journal
https://www.wsj.com/articles/paying-with-a-credit-card-thats-going-to-cost-you-11629378047?

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“The US economy is based on debt-financed overconsumption, while China’s is based on debt-financed overinvestment.”

South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
<<https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3040618/federal-reserve-prolonging-trade-war-keeping-biggest-financial>>

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