LaLuzDelSol

People just split for irreconcilable differences all the time, they don't owe the public an explanation.

Millibeads

Plenty of industries have gone bankrupt over the years. They are not always bailed out, or at least not bailed out successfully. Some examples in the US: the textile industry, the furniture industry, and the slave trade. Coal is headed in the same direction because market forces (the cost of coal and pressure from environmentalists and by extension everyday consumers) are working against it.

Yes, there is no alternative to planes... some of the time. Everybody has a flight they have to catch every once in a while. But some people fly twenty times a year for pleasure, some people maybe only once a year. If you have a wedding or funeral invitation on the other side of the U.S., yeah you pretty much have to take a plane. But if you're planning a vacation or travel to a couple states over, you absolutely do have the choice to just not fly.

Covid did not indicate a floor to air travel. As I already said, it was a situation where airlines had the choice between saving money in the short term (by stopping flights) or breaking their contracts with airports and losing money in the long term once traffic resumed. If the drop-off in travel had simply been due to permanent reduced demand for flying in general—due to, for example, people taking fewer long-distance flights for vacations due to increased concern over carbon emissions—they would have simply given up on those routes and reduced the number of flights permanently.

I was not talking about freight rail, I was talking about passenger rail. Lots of passenger rail companies went bankrupt - no consolidation, just your company went out of business because nobody wanted to take the train. I do know some sketchy shit went on to drive the nail into the coffin and lead to Amtrak but the long decline before that was due to the market forces of people having cars and wanting to use them.

Finally, yes I agree that there is no true "alternative" to airlines, nor is there a true "alternative" to consuming electricity. But, you can still choose to reduce your consumption of those things.

Sure, let me google that for you.

https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ethicalcampaigns/boycotts/history-successful-boycotts

In general boycotts are less about driving a company to bankruptcy and more about getting them to change their behavior. Some companies are surprisingly immune to boycotts but many others have walked back their problematic behavior. Notably in recent memory in the US I can think of Barilla, Chick-fil-a and (by conservatives) Budweiser. The Montgomery bus line boycott is the stuff of history.

I mean, screw their economic calculus, if people stop flying they will go out of business. If people fly less, there will be fewer (and smaller) planes in the air. It's not that complicated. I get that in practice most people can't stop flying entirely but I'm exasperated by the leftist view that consumers are powerless because the global elites are using mind control to force us to fly to the Bahamas on holiday.

There is no "floor" to air travel, the same way there was no "floor" to passenger rail travel. Some of the most powerful and influential men in America fought tooth and nail to protect the railroad industry, but market forces (and, yes, to a lesser extent government policy, but mainly just people buying cars) eventually led to the near-collapse of the industry. Corporations can resist change but that doesn't mean they are always successful.

Idk tree nuts have pretty low c02 impact because they aren't farmed as intensively I think. Like, trees don't need as much fertilizer as annual crops. Maybe.

Airlines, cruise lined oil companies are not immutable forces of nature. They have grown to their current size to meet the demand of individuals like you and me who want to buy shit and go places.

If everyone stopped flying, passenger airlines would be out of business and no longer flying planes within a year or two. Same with cruise companies. Oil is used in more things but if everyone switched to EVs or stopped driving oil production would go way down- even more if we cut our plastic usage as well.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking consumers are powerless. In a free market economy they are very powerful- that's why boycotts can be so effective.

By the same logic, couldn't you say that eating red meat doesn't matter because ~8 agriculture companies produce 75% of the livestock-related pollution?

That's a bit of a gimmick related to airlines betting (correctly) that flight demand would rebound after covid ended and wanting to keep their spot in line. If there was a true societal shift and people flew less, airlines wouldn't keep flying empty planes around for the fun of it. Also, there WERE a lot fewer flights during covid, ghost planes notwithstanding. The narrative of "we are powerless to stop climate change because corporations are evil" is lazy. Corporations aren't evil they are just amoral-they answer to market demand, whatever that is.

Vote with your pocketbook. Buy products that are produced sustainably- or if that isn't an option, buy less.

Corporations aren't stupid - they are very good at making money. If company X could produce a product that 10% more expensive than their competitors but sold twice as well because it was more environmentally friendly, they would absolutely do so.

Yall know they made a second season of Tiger King? It's just as stupid as you'd think I gave up like 1 episode in

Ummmmm actually my discord pfp is definitely of a girl in her early twenties. Well, ok MAYBE she's a teenager but she's definitely of age!