Easy now.
You have saved on emissions by doing things like having a windmill, solar panels and an electric car, all of which are designed to save emissions and all of which the government has subsidized, somewhere between $250,000 and $300,000 all told. And all to gain not 100% but only 60% emissions reductions.
You donāt remember my many earlier posts. We had reduced our GHG emissions about 1/3 to 1/2 many years before we went on wind and solar and bought an EV.
That was the hard part in that it entailed many actions big and small. We must have done over 100 things, including a low-flow showerhead and toilet, insulation and caulking, cycling, walking, hypermiling, turning off engine in drive-thrus, buying a super-efficient frig that made our electric bill do a nose-dive. On and on and on the list goes.
Even though we lived within a mile of work, I was not counting that since weād been doing that since the 70s in order to save resources for future generations.
We reduced, reused, recycled, bought recycled, became energy/resource efficient/conservative, understanding that all products have a GHG component in their raw materials extraction, processing, shipping, manufacture, wholesaling, retailing, shopping, and disposal. Iām not counting the fact that we did most of our shopping at garage sales and bought only used cars (all good environmental things to do), bec we had already been doing that all along in order to support siblings going to college and the old folks, etc.
NONE of this was subsidized, and some things cost more (without payback), but on the whole we were saving $1000s by doing these things ā which quite frankly we would not have done if I had not become sensitized to how I may be contributing to the death and misery of others thru AGW. Knowing I was contributing to the harming and killing of people was like a fire under me, that got me out composting and planting, recycling, walking to work, and cycling (Iām very lazy by nature).
I was becoming an OCDS (3rd order) Carmelite at the time in the late 80s, and that is what really helped, a looking inward at my sins and flaws, and much prayer for Godās grace to overcome them.
Going on 100% wind-power electricity in 2002, buying the Volt in 2012, and solar panels in 2013 were the VERY LAST things we did. And with those measures I conservatively guesstimate we have reduced our GHG emissions by over 60% (understanding that GHGs went into the production of the Volt and solar panels); otherwise Iād be estimating even a greater reduction. (It also helps that we are at the end of our lives, having acquired all that we need, and donāt have to shop for non-food things hardly at all; I realize young people need to build up their nests.)
RE subsidies ā I KNOW that coal and oil get huge subsidies & tax-breaks. My Republican repās aide up north told me so when I pinned him down, and I had read about it. But you go ahead and believe anything you want.
When you consider indirect costs for the military to ensure a steady oil flow and the externalities of harms and deaths from these sources (mainly out of sight, out of mind), then there is absolutely no comparison. The subsidies and tax-breaks alt energy gets are NOTHING by comparison and they should give more. But go ahead and believe what you will and Iāll stick to my knowledge and understanding.
