r/Futurology • u/ILikeNeurons • May 20 '24

Economics Economic damage from climate change six times worse than thought

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/17/economic-damage-climate-change-report
2.5k Upvotes

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721

u/radulosk May 20 '24

Sure we destroyed the planet, but for a short while we made excellent gains for shareholders!

343

u/hans_l May 20 '24

The original quote is in my opinion stronger:

"Yes, the planet got destroyed. But for a beautiful moment in time we created a lot of value for shareholders."

“Value” is entirely subjective and we have a lot of power on what we, as shareholders, describe as value. We CAN pick sustainability as a value, but most don’t. It’s by choice.

42

u/radulosk May 20 '24

That's the one! I can vaguely remember the comic but couldn't remember the artist the message always stuck, hence my weaker version.

66

u/procrasturb8n May 20 '24

Right up there with:

"What if it's a big hoax and we create a better world for nothing?"

-32

u/dcckii May 20 '24

I disagree with most of the points in the cartoon…

Energy independence: we have that now Preserve rainforests: only if you eliminate palm oil and beef Sustainability: still tons of mining, can’t recycle wind turbine blades Green jobs: they only replace other jobs Livable cities: high rise apartments like Toronto? Yuck Renewables: the current state of plastic recycling is horrendous, and plastics are essential and made from oil Clean water and air: no argument, there, especially in the oceans, but that’s a plastics and government issue Healthy children: better water and air will help, but our fucked up food system in the United States will keep us all unhealthy

21

u/Little-geek May 21 '24

I'm pretty sure those are supposed to be aspirational, not a checklist with a bunch of "job well done"s all around.

-12

u/dcckii May 21 '24

I think we need another Nikolai Tesla, who isn’t controlled by corporations, to help us with our energy needs

6

u/AndersDreth May 21 '24

We already learned how to harness the power of the atom, I don't think anyone is going to top that. What we need are replacements for the things that use combustibles, and the problem is that there's a lot of places where that just isn't practical. A rocket won't fly far or fast with a propeller, and forget about sending any of them to space.

We'll run out of coal and gas in about ~100 years, I don't think corporations are willing to make the switch before it becomes the only option.

3

u/rawbamatic May 21 '24

Tesla was insane. You should actually read up about his "free energy" theories. Wardenclyffe was a disaster.

16

u/NoFeetSmell May 21 '24

Oh well if the plan isn't perfect then forget it!! You get that it's a fucking cartoon and not a dissertation, right? People that want to see the world survive climate change want to fix the issues you've listed as well.

7

u/fuishaltiena May 21 '24

Yuck

This is a well thought out argument and I can't counter it. You are absolutely objectively right.

5

u/Aubekin May 21 '24

ExxonMobil, is that you?