If we can somehow significantly lower travel and power use, since these two are responsible for most of the emissions.
Locating manufacturing as close as possible to the consumption source might help immensely. Heating and cooling are major culprits - 78/68° farenheit are traditional thermostat-conservation goals, but I would encourage healthy people to try 85/60°f (from personal experimentation due to necessity - i.e. a tight budget. Maybe even 90/55 is doable as an upper/lower limit, but be careful with the upper limit).
A main driver also seems to be rents, whether tenant rents or property taxes. Is there a way to reduce the need for people/governments/society to do/have/need so much?
Supporting the infrastructure of affluent lifestyles is also an important factor (this is not a judgement, just an observation).
But perhaps the biggest problems are existential or philosophical. I almost get the feeling that there's so much mutual disgust with humanity that there's a tacit agreement to "commit suicide", in a sense, which in this case requires no special effort. So maybe a little existential reassurance is in order, along the lines of, 'Humanity's been through a lot, a lot of change, and especially a crisis of meaning with the compromise in authority of the traditional sources' (an evolving and unresolved issue).
Also, addressing global warming should not be a miserable endeavor. For example, less travel and more relaxed lifestyles can be happier ones, and while "bringing manufacturing home" may result in more expensive things, it would probably help the unemployment issues in America (which are greater than appreciated) significantly.
Then there's existential/philosophical "intangible benefits" that should be considered, e.g. how much better people might feel knowing their products come from people they know are making fair wages, and knowing they're working to provide a future for their descendants that they can be proud of.
I love the angles/strategy you gave at the beginning. Of things that we as engineers can have a stronger influence or control over.
I do think we should avoid the assumption that to "save the world" in the long term that we need to make lives more worse in the near term.
I do think there are many cards we can play that will yield a positive effect without inconveniencing our lifestyles. Things like better insulation and less energy and resource waste in general.
Locating manufacturing as close as possible to the consumption source might help immensely. Heating and cooling are major culprits - 78/68° farenheit are traditional thermostat-conservation goals, but I would encourage healthy people to try 85/60°f (from personal experimentation due to necessity - i.e. a tight budget. Maybe even 90/55 is doable as an upper/lower limit, but be careful with the upper limit).
A main driver also seems to be rents, whether tenant rents or property taxes. Is there a way to reduce the need for people/governments/society to do/have/need so much?
Supporting the infrastructure of affluent lifestyles is also an important factor (this is not a judgement, just an observation).
But perhaps the biggest problems are existential or philosophical. I almost get the feeling that there's so much mutual disgust with humanity that there's a tacit agreement to "commit suicide", in a sense, which in this case requires no special effort. So maybe a little existential reassurance is in order, along the lines of, 'Humanity's been through a lot, a lot of change, and especially a crisis of meaning with the compromise in authority of the traditional sources' (an evolving and unresolved issue).
Also, addressing global warming should not be a miserable endeavor. For example, less travel and more relaxed lifestyles can be happier ones, and while "bringing manufacturing home" may result in more expensive things, it would probably help the unemployment issues in America (which are greater than appreciated) significantly.
Then there's existential/philosophical "intangible benefits" that should be considered, e.g. how much better people might feel knowing their products come from people they know are making fair wages, and knowing they're working to provide a future for their descendants that they can be proud of.