https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/to-save-the-planet-should-we-really-be-moving-slower
To Save the Planet, Should We Really Be Moving Slower?
The degrowth movement makes a comeback.
By Bill McKibben
July 5, 2023
Excerpt:
The populist Yellow Vest movement, initially ignited in the provinces by a rise in gas prices and a green tax on diesel, has become a major force in French politics. And imagine what the response would be to most of these proposals in certain quarters of this country; the Green New Deal was widely disparaged owing to a Fox News claim that it would limit hamburger consumption. Here, for instance, is how Marc Morano, a prominent advocate for the fossil-fuel industry, reacted to the news of the French flight ban: “This is what a climate lockdown looks like,” he said. “The climate agenda demands you give up airline travel, car travel, cheap reliable energy, and plentiful food. Net Zero goals are now dictating vehicle shortages to force more people into mass transit. They’re going after your freedom of movement; they’re going after private car ownership, they’re going after everything it means to be a free person and turning it over to the administrative state.”
I think, in other words, that this is going to be a fairly slow cultural shift, not just in the U.S. but in much of the world, and particularly in places where many people are just starting to eat meat in quantity and have every reason to want a larger home.
