• thesdev@feddit.org
      101·
      5 days ago

      Dunno, some write their emails using ChatGPT and still have “think before printing this” in the signature.

          • skarn@discuss.tchncs.de
            5·
            5 days ago

            So, this depends a lot on where you are. But in most places, plastic straws are pretty irrelevant. The main sources of microplastics are things like road markings, worn tires, synthetic textiles, etc.

    • vividspecter@aussie.zone
      311·
      5 days ago

      Yeah, I always get a laugh out of the tantrums people throw over plastic straws and bags which is such a trivial thing to care about. It’s not even about climate change either, but a different and also serious environmental problem.

      On the data center point, it is expected to actually drive renewable investment. Ideally those building data centers should bear the full cost of it and should be prevented from turning to gas as a solution. And that’s my main concern from this, besides all of the other issues with AI.

      • CIA_chatbot@lemmy.world
        21·
        5 days ago

        Yea can you source that “drive renewables” thing, cause every report I’ve seen has them un-mothballing coal plants and shit to power these things

        • vividspecter@aussie.zone
          210·
          5 days ago

          It’s just simple logic. Renewables and batteries are cheaper and quicker to build than coal and gas and easier to locate near the demand.

          But agreed that the near term situation is concerning with coal and gas still being used and built which is idiotic. And the politics around renewable energy in the US aren’t helping things, though I expect economics will win out in the end in the medium to long term.

          • Mirshe@lemmy.world
            14·
            5 days ago

            Not even near term. Trump’s administration here in the US is bankrolling all kinds of fossil fuel investment and specifically curtailing renewables and trying the hardest to cancel renewable contracts, as well as nuclear. Various states are also doing this, for very little discernable reason. Sure, you can pop up a solar array pretty quick, but wind turbine farms take a while to build, same with hydro and tidal power where you can use those.

  • phant@lemmy.world
    23·
    5 days ago

    Yep. We changed our home lightbulbs to LED, we got more efficient heating/cooling systems and appliances installed in our homes. (My gov provided incentives for these things). I thought it was to reduce our energy consumption and save us some cash on bills. But nup, turns out it just freed up energy to burn on LLM data centres.

  • eatCasserole@lemmy.worldM
    18·
    5 days ago

    The “let’s get rid of plastic straws” thing took off specifically because it’s insignificant. They can all just order a crate of paper straws and pat themselves on the back and it’s business as usual. Doing something meaningful about climate change and/or plastic pollution would actually require some effort, and might even make line go down for a minute, and we can’t have that!

  • Pommes_für_dein_Balg@feddit.org
    8·
    5 days ago

    Paper straws need more energy to produce than plastic straws. The paper straws were introduced to reduce plastic contamination in the oceans, an entirely separate issue.