Post #1897307

2026-03-12 11:03 UTC

TIL that &quot;carbon footprint&quot; is a campaign started by British Petroleum (BP) in order to distract attention away from coporate responsibility and culpability towards individual responsibility and culpability. https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781541700116 If you are concerned about your carbon footprint or shame others about their&#39;s, it shows how well this campaign has worked and is still working. But you know what is really on us? To stop this madness right now and demand more corporate regulations! #climatecrisis

Replies (3)

@svelmoe@hachyderm.io 2026-03-12 13:46

@brembs@mastodon.social I still think it's okay to shame millionaires for flying everywhere just because.

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@CadeJohnson@toot.cat 2026-03-12 14:14

@brembs@mastodon.social the problem with carbon footprint was "truthiness" - it sounded plausable if you did not think too much about the concept. Assigning emissions to acts of consumption seemed like it could be helpful. But consider the carbon footprint of a lowly carton of ice cream. The emissions from field to factory to refrigerated distribution to grocery, they can all pale beside the emissions if you suddenly decide you deserve a treat, hop in the car, and drive ten miles just to buy that ONE thing.

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@SuneAuken@mastodon.world 2026-03-12 14:25

@brembs@mastodon.social Interesting thing. I always teach that my students should focus on their handprint: The things they can change rather than fret too much about their individual guilt. One obvious thing to change is how we talk about individual vs systemic responsibility as a precursor to talking about structural change.

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