Thread by @homemadeguitars

Long time readers know that I believe the core beginning action to combat climate change is to reduce our surface speed. Reduce transportation speed. Reduce the national speed limit 5 mph, per year, until it reaches 15 mph or the speed of a running horse.
This raises eyebrows.

2. You don't need to tell me people won't this is impossible, I got all that.
This is only if we actually wanted to combat climate change, which we don't.
If we wanted to combat climate change we would take action to reduce emissions now.
Lots of obvious ways, but speed > all.

3. From here I could proceed several different ways.
My focus on speed is a giant yawner. Everyone is like, yeah, right, let's do something *big*. Slowing down isn't worth the effort.
So let's talk about speed, energy, and transportation.
Using my favorite graphic.

4. The big green line across the bottom is petroleum on the left, going (mostly) into transportation on the right. The rest goes into industry, and that's largely still transportation, inside industrial facilities. Mine trucks and the like. Some direct heat, too, but...

5. The biggest green line, the transportation part.
How much of that do you think is used by speed? Do you think five percent? Ten percent?
One hundred percent of that line is used for speed.
One hundred percent of the petroleum used in transportation is burned for one purpose:

6. To accelerate mass to, and maintain it at, speed.
That's it.
We have always transported things, probably since we were hunter gatherers. We never needed to change the climate to be able to transport things until we decided we needed to transport them faster than food energy.

7. We sailed boatloads of trade goods around the world powered by the winds that blew. Our ambassador and Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, went to Paris to represent the newly created nation. On a sailing ship. People did it all the time.

8. One hundred percent of the transportation share of our petroleum appetite and resulting CO2 emissions is used to create and maintain speed.
It is commonly assumed that we can't live without our current high speed system, but I have never seen a reasoned defense of that thesis

9. I freely grant that if we stopped dead at a walking pace tomorrow it would be a disaster and cost untold lives. I specifically do not recommend that.
I recommend slowing, all the nations of the Earth, 5 mph / 8 kmph speed limit, per year, ad follows:

10. Using US numbers and mile measurements, coz I live there.
(All these numbers are enforced)
First year, 60 mph Max, nationwide.
2: 55
3: 50
4: 45
5: 40
6: 35
7: 30
8: 25
9: 20
10: 15 mph or the speed of a trotting horse.
Worldwide.
You'd see humongous reduction CO2.

11. Apply a similar energy throughput approach to commercial aviation until it is no longer possible, then halt it forever.
This change by itself might make the emissions numbers all the liars at COP will be using.
This change would show immediate reduction in emissions.

12. The reduction in speed would change long distance shipping drastically. Only high value, specialty goods would be worth room on a sailing trader. Using today's knowledge of aerodynamics we could build highly efficient sailing vessels.

13. Shit like this would be impossible. The world would be better for it.

https://twitter.com/NYinLA2121/status/1430986660280291330?t=f9_OM4ZfFV21dRNZIf1psA&s=19

14. If you feel the urge to yell at me and tell me I'm a fool after reading this thread, please be aware that I have heard all the talking points and reject them as demonstrably false.
Here is my evidence. theguardian.com/environment/20…