I can’t afford an EV, transit is too unreliable to get me to work and housing/rent is too expensive for me to move closer to my work, so how exactly is my fault North American society is built around requiring a car while various social economic factors help reinforce it?
Who’s talking about fault (besides you)? We each have to do as much as we can. Maybe you can help in other ways instead. How about cutting dairy/meat from your diet, then doing the four Rs with everything else?
I’m expressing that many of us are bound to fossil fuels by design and we need bigger more impactful change. I do what I can, i walk to get my grocceries, I rarely buy new clothing, keep my apartment cool in the winter even though I don’t pay the energy bill. Its not even a drop in the bucket compared to millions being spent and made on oil and ensuring we all rely on it.
We made our cars bigger, we made our cities wider and less dense and we told everyone to drive everywhere. Buy everything wrapped in plastic, don’t worry it’s totally recycleable (but not really). No one can afford housing because multi unit housing doesn’t exist in the vast majority of neighbourhoods, unless it was a big house renovated into apartments. Multi units are often more energy effecient compared to the same number of SFH, they loose less heat during winter due the shared walls. They are also denser which can support walkability and transit better than traditional suburbs.
We are beyond the points of individual change being meaningful. We need broad solutions from individuals, communities, nations and everything in between. Building a denser, more walkable society will naturally lower many people’s oil and energy consumption while also preserving land.
