https://apnews.com/article/technology-antonio-guterres-newark-seton-hall-university-ce9fad8fdae487bd5583b1624195fe3c
There was a day (not too long ago!) when we were considered saviors of the world for providing it cheap energy. Now we're considered planet wreckers. What do you tell your kids they ask you what you do for a living?
@1zru,
Do you walk everywhere you go? Do you use any plastics or petrofibers? Do you use electricity in your home?
If you use fossil fuels (which I suspect you do) then STFU.
The 20th century will be remembered as the 100 years that destroyed the planet.
I tell them that I work in an industry that enables modern society to function. The greatest century in terms of technological and industrial progress was powered by oil and gas. If someone hates the industry so much then they should prove their conviction by not using oil and gas products anymore.
Ya, it's all because of those greedy oil companies (nothing to do with me driving a jacked -up 4x4 with v8 as a commuter) and China men for driving so many new scooters!
Tell them their future is in serious doubt because greedy oil companies denied climate change until it wAs too late. The planet will die.
Tell them to read The Way the World Really Works
I tell them that new low-carbon technology is needed, but the scale of the challenge is such that it will be a long time before those technologies are developed. Before that happens we all wish to continue to drive to work, eat food shipped to our cities, and use computers, lights, AC and all the other conveniences of modern life. The day will come (I am guessing it will for a large part rely on nuclear, and hopefully fusion), but that is not here yet. In the mean time, you can help put me out of business: Drive a fuel efficient car, use air conditioning sparingly, eat local ... (even though in reality it will not make that much of a difference, you might feel better about your decadent ways). Except for those who moved into a mud hut and live by eating only grubs, everyone in the modern world has a very significant carbon footprint.
That we’re a necessary evil.