Why Climate Change Doesn't Matter, and the "Prius Problem"

This post is not about whether or not climate change is happening. Valid skepticism exists, ranging from those questioning whether humans have in fact caused climate change, to those who have claimed it's a complete conspiracy fabricated to wrest power away from the middle east. My point here is that it should not change the way you practice.

Climate change is an alarm. As the pressure from consumption builds, the needle moves further and further into the red.

Consumption has always had costs, and while as an aggregate they may be effecting the environment, we feel those costs far more on personal levels. I think it's safe to argue without doing any serious research that rising sales of hybrid vehicles has far more to do with rising gas prices than any ethical concerns being raised. Which brings me to...

The Prius Problem
It doesn't have to be a Prius. Everybody knows what it is and the alteration is awesome. Gas takes a higher percentage of income from low-income people, assuming everyone must commute the same way. It also increases our dependence on foreign powers we'd rather not depend on, and has a decidedly negative environmental impact. Enter the Prius.

Definitely not a Mustang

It uses less gas, it costs about the same as a similarly sized, non-hybrid vehicle, and yet the Camry is still an option. Complaints range from "that's a chick car" to "it sounds like a hairdryer", the point being that in spite of its improved ethical and economic performance without additional cost, people feel it's an inferior vehicle. 

The solution to the "Prius Problem" is not a better hybrid. Solutions of restraint will never feel right because if restraint is required, there's a struggle against it. In the Prius's case, the solution is walkable communities. Cut the car out of the picture entirely with something people want to do anyway, and no restraint is needed. 

Now building issues are more complicated, to be sure, but there are ways some of this principle can carry over–as an example, Bjarke Ingels's hedonistic sustainability project highlights a number of these strategies. For example, residential use requires more heating because you're at home all night, and offices require more cooling because of all the computers and machinery. So if you can make a heating connection between the two we can expect energy savings for both.

Sustainability cannot sustainably focus on restraint, and we should not require an alarm to force us to think about what a healthier, more efficient environment should be.