It’s not that complicated, really

Amid information overload, the bottom line on solving climate change

Does learning about climate change and its solutions sometimes give you information overload?

Well, join the crowd.  It seems just about every day I read about yet another app, gadget or technology that promises to help solve climate change.  All are well-intentioned, of course, and probably make a positive difference.  But I often wonder if some do more harm than good, because:

• In the big picture, they often make a pretty tiny difference and can’t be affordably or practically ramped up to the scale required
• They may give us a false sense of relief, and distract us from the areas where the really big differences and progress can be made

For example, you may have heard about Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), where carbon dioxide produced by the burning of fossil fuels is captured and stored underground – a great idea, except that it’s prohibitively expensive to do; preventing emissions in the first place is much, much cheaper.  (An analogy:  would you throw confetti or glitter at a wedding if you knew you had to sweep up every bit of it?  Or would you just not use it in the first place, and find another way to celebrate?)

Just one of so many distractions.

So here’s the uncomplicated bottom line: to stop climate change, we need to reduce our emissions to zero, period.  There’s no magic, no silver bullet, no ‘get out of jail free’ card.

Hopefully this chart can help you focus on a few really simple things (in rough order of importance) that will yield the largest reductions in your personal emissions:

1. Reduce your transportation emissions by driving less, taking public transit, carpooling, driving an efficient vehicle, practicing efficient driving techniques, avoiding drive-thrus, never idling your engine and using less AC in your vehicle. Try to think climate every time you reach for the keys.  (And lower Transportation emissions will automatically reduce demand for gasoline, lowering emissions from the Oil and Gas sector too.)
2. Reduce your emissions at home by turning off lights and anything else when not in use, turning down the thermostat a few degrees, sealing leaks and drafts, insulating where possible, switching from oil to electric heat pumps (a new federal assistance program was announced last week), using efficient appliances, using a clothesline and using AC as little as possible.  Try to think climate every time you reach for a switch.
3. Reduce your industry emissions by buying less stuff (and if it comes from far away, you’ll be reducing transportation emissions too)
4. Reduce your food emissions by reducing food waste and adopting a more plant-based diet
5. Reduce your waste emissions by favouring less packaging in your purchases, composting organics and recycling meticulously
6. If you have the means, reduce your electricity emissions by installing your own source of renewable energy

Reducing our emissions to zero, period.  It may not be simple to do, but amid distractions and information overload, hopefully at least it’s easy to understand.