...and what's your argument here? Even if that 16 year figure were true and even if 100 Elon Musks came about to take on the climate challenge...that's still not enough to fix the climate problem. And again, you're conveniently forgetting that policies of the Obama administration allowed Elon Musk to be in the position he is in the first place.
> Every little bit counts, but when you think about what's possible with the scale of the U.S. government, versus what's actually happened, it's depressing.
[insert metaphor about big ship turning vs small ship]
Optimism is good. But to disregard the many messy, complicated things that put us in the current status quo in favor of some Hollywood save-the-world fantasy is no less delusional than the optimists in politics and non-profits that you deride.
>even if 100 Elon Musks came about to take on the climate challenge...that's still not enough to fix the climate problem.
Those are just words. I say that 100 people with the same talent as Elon Musk working at the same scale on climate change would already have the problem solved.
>But to disregard the many messy, complicated things that put us in the current status quo...
The U.S. government starts wars over access to fossil fuels. It murders people by the thousands for it. It provides billions of dollars in subsidies to the most profitable corporations on Earth to ensure that its citizens don't pay too high of a price for it. It puts people in jail for disrupting the illegal sale of public land to corporations who want to exploit it to find more fossil fuels.
It is now even fighting with other countries for the right to exploit land for oil extraction that is only navigable because of climate change.
And you want me to believe that a measly couple hundred million to a few billion dollars for renewable energy is evidence that politics works?
For every example you can present where the U.S. government has had a marginal impact on the viability of alternative energy companies, there are many, many more where it is artificially extending the era of cheap fossil fuel, often through violence. So on this particular issue, it's not just that government is ineffective, it's that it is actively doing harm. As we speak. At the same time that all the worst predictions of climate scientists are coming to pass.
> Every little bit counts, but when you think about what's possible with the scale of the U.S. government, versus what's actually happened, it's depressing.
[insert metaphor about big ship turning vs small ship]
Optimism is good. But to disregard the many messy, complicated things that put us in the current status quo in favor of some Hollywood save-the-world fantasy is no less delusional than the optimists in politics and non-profits that you deride.