Climate Change

[arus2001]

Now I'm just imagining little Samoan women squatting out baby Yokozunas.

[6souls]

Now I'm just imagining little Samoan women squatting out baby Yokozunas.

[6souls]

Big Oil Wants a Wall... to Protect them from Climate Change
60 Mile Stretch along the Texas Coast Proposed Using US Gov Funds

As the nation plans new defenses against the more powerful storms and higher tides expected from climate change, one project stands out: an ambitious proposal to build a nearly 60-mile "spine" of concrete seawalls, earthen barriers, floating gates and steel levees on the Texas Gulf Coast.

The plan is focused on a stretch of coastline that runs from the Louisiana border to industrial enclaves south of Houston that are home to one of the world's largest concentrations of petrochemical facilities, including most of Texas' 30 refineries, which represent 30 percent of the nation's refining capacity.

Texas is seeking at least $12 billion for the full coastal spine, with nearly all of it coming from public funds. Last month, the government fast-tracked an initial $3.9 billion for three separate, smaller storm barrier projects that would specifically protect oil facilities.

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/0...climate-change

[TsingTao]

Prepare your financial anus folks, because these sort of projects are going to pop up along all our coasts over the next few years. Everyone will want government cheese to cover the cost too.

Bonus points when the request comes from a state with a Republican governor who would otherwise toe the party line on handouts, subsidies, and redistribution of wealth. Double points if the project is designed to protect corporate infrastructure of multi-billion dollar a year industries who don't think they should pay for the project.

[Jaybar]

Earthen barriers are real, and effective. They also aid the natural habitat and local coastal ecosystems. I'm talking about those 10-15' "dunes" that usually run parallel to coasts. Seaside, FL (see link) was built in 1981 and survived hurricanes thanks in part to their "natural defenses". Smart urban planning is the key to protecting cities and towns. This is just Darwinism at an urban level.

But concrete walls, fuck that ugly shit.

[Byrthnoth]

Can Mexico pay for our seawalls too?

[Buffy]

Really the hurricane has to get through us to get to them, so only seems fair.

[Boyiee]

Earthen barriers are real, and effective. They also aid the natural habitat and local coastal ecosystems. I'm talking about those 10-15' "dunes" that usually run parallel to coasts. Seaside, FL (see link) was built in 1981 and survived hurricanes thanks in part to their "natural defenses". Smart urban planning is the key to protecting cities and towns. This is just Darwinism at an urban level.

But concrete walls, fuck that ugly shit.

Tell the dunes in NJ that they were supposed to work during Sandy.

[Fiye]

Hawaii 'bout to get slammed and I'm seeing this blow up.

[Outlaw]

I saw this yesterday. The irony is so thick you could cut it with a chainsaw.

[Dantrag]

isn't that illegal? Also, how the fuck is united taking 20 hours to get to LAX from HNL? Are they going to Australia first?

[Byrthnoth]

I always get confused when I see people freak out about specific instances of endstage capitalism like this (the image was of prices for flights out of Hawaii allegedly spiking pre-hurricane).

The algorithms are working as intended. Demand went up and supply remained constant, so prices rose. If you have a problem with that, then you have a problem with automated capitalism rather than airlines.



Capitalism supposes that one's wealth is directly proportional to how able they should be to consume resources (plane flights away from a hurricane, Ubers at rush hour, basic necessities that let you live 15 years longer, etc.) We rationalize this using the idea that our particular capitalist system is a meritocracy where one's wealth reflects their value to society. I don't know how anyone can honestly look at our public figures/society and continue to hold either of those views.

Capitalism should be respected as a really efficient and low maintenance way to allocate resources, but fapping to it should be banned and the estate tax should be ~90% on estate value over 4mil.

[Jaybar]

This happened to uber last summer in Chicago after 3 El lines were effectively shut down after someone was found dead on the tracks during rush hour. Busses were packed to the brim, so the only other recourse was taxi and uber. Surges went to over 100$ for a 2.5mi ride. The story got national attention and uber repaid the riders since uber was "taking advantage" of a tragedy.

In reality it was just as Byrth mentioned about United - the algorithms worked.

[NynJa]

In todays news: businesses are out to make money, water is wet, and wasps continue to be assholes. Heres Tom with a preview of the sports.

[Mythe_Seraph]

People voting with their dollar and their willingness and or availability to pay a specific price doesn't make capitalism a meritocracy where wealth define one's value. That's a skewed assessment for sure.

[Eurell]

I mean, people want to fly away so they don't die. Voting when a gun is against your head is hardly a vote worth counting.

[Mythe_Seraph]

Yeah but it's not life or death. If you want to interpret it as such, that's fine you can, but it's not. There was a certain supply of seats and there literally could not be more. The people who wanted to pay the price for their seats did. You're assuming only the rich and wealthiest individuals chose to pay the price. In which case you'd probably be wrong. I can almost guarantee you there were people who had well beyond the means to purchase a ticket, and wanted to, but didn't. And just the opposite, there were individuals who probably spent their last dollar purchasing a ticket.

Does that mean the people who didn't buy a ticket are going to die? No.

The situation didn't dictate who lives and dies, nor did it dictate who does and doesn't buy tickets.

[Salodin]

I dont understand what you're arguing. Are you saying price gouging in the events leading up to a state wide emergency shouldn't be illegal because supply and demand are real things?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

[Eurell]

Does that mean the people who didn't buy a ticket are going to die? No.

I mean. They might lol. I'm sure Hawaii will be fine, but neither of us actually know the impact the storm will have, and can claim we know how many people will die. If someone who dies is only there because they couldn't afford a ticket... idk, seems pretty self explanatory to me.

[Zealot]

Just to throw this out there, but price gouging, specifically in times of emergency, is illegal in almost every state.