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> Between 2018 and 2022, 57 of the sensors in the Berkeley Environmental Air Quality and CO2 Network (BEACO2N) recorded a small but steady decrease in CO2 emiss

> Between 2018 and 2022, 57 of the sensors in the Berkeley Environmental Air Quality and CO2 Network (BEACO2N) recorded a small but steady decrease in CO2 emissions Convenient date range considering the global pandemic and WFH shift …

baryphonic 2y ago
I have been surprised that environmental activists haven't protested return-to-office policies for the incident increase in pollution. Seems like there is very little data backing up RTO other than commercial real estate sunk costs, and loads of costs like lost time commuting, energy used to commute, emissions due to traffic, etc.
- dalyons 2y ago
  Do executive feelings count as data
- solarpunk 2y ago
  Wasn't this one of the reasons behind the Amazon walkouts
- tehjoker 2y ago
  the lack of resistance to RTO from many political perspectives has been stunning tbh
  - sahila 2y ago
    Wfh sure seems like a negative in terms of measured economic activity - less gas buying, fewer coffee and lunch purchases and happy hours, and or course depressed commerical real estate, all leading to lower tax in take. Happy to see the political upside.
    - tehjoker 2y ago
      the upside is its better for workers and the climate lol it also reduces the spread of COVID-19, which is an ongoing pandemic.
- Gibbon1 2y ago
  At first I was for cars with higher MPG. Then I was for more mass transit. Finally I realized it'd be cheaper to move work closer to where we built houses for the peons to live instead of close to where the boss lives. Nothing closer than a home office.
- floren 2y ago
  I know of one huge international pharma company with a site in South SF that is reducing conference attendance with the stated purpose of reducing emissions, while simultaneously requiring all employees to be on-site 3 days a week regardless of job function (yes, lab workers have to be in the lab for their work, but plenty of positions spend most of their time on video calls with other sites in Sweden, Netherlands, England, China, India...)
jmankhan 2y ago
the study accounts for shelter-in-place mandates during COVID: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c09642 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c09642
Rebelgecko 2y ago
The paper[1] goes into this in more depth. COVID was definitely a factor, but not the only one. For example if you look at the YOY comparisons, both halves of 2021 hadlower emissions YOY than 2020. The H1 decrease you can blame on the COVID lockdowns that lasted until May. But by July 2020 everyone who was going to WFH was WFH, and by July 2021 many people who were WFH in 2020 were commuting again. [1]: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c09642 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c09642
- skeeter2020 2y ago
  ICE cars are also more efficient and less poluting, which could also account for some of the decline.
hettygreen 2y ago
Don't ruin it for me! I only read the headline and was feeling justified purchasing 3000 pounds of globally mined steel, aluminum, rubber, plastic, graphite, copper, nickel, manganese and cobalt.
- mepiethree 2y ago
  You can feel good. the carbon debt from manufacturing is amortized over the life of the car. As long as the car is driven more than 19,000 miles, EVs are better. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/19/business/electric-vehicles-carbon-footprint-batteries.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/19/business/electric-vehicle...

baryphonic 2y ago

I have been surprised that environmental activists haven't protested return-to-office policies for the incident increase in pollution. Seems like there is very little data backing up RTO other than commercial real estate sunk costs, and loads of costs like lost time commuting, energy used to commute, emissions due to traffic, etc.

dalyons 2y ago
Do executive feelings count as data
solarpunk 2y ago
Wasn't this one of the reasons behind the Amazon walkouts
tehjoker 2y ago
the lack of resistance to RTO from many political perspectives has been stunning tbh
- sahila 2y ago
  Wfh sure seems like a negative in terms of measured economic activity - less gas buying, fewer coffee and lunch purchases and happy hours, and or course depressed commerical real estate, all leading to lower tax in take. Happy to see the political upside.
  - tehjoker 2y ago
    the upside is its better for workers and the climate lol it also reduces the spread of COVID-19, which is an ongoing pandemic.
Gibbon1 2y ago
At first I was for cars with higher MPG. Then I was for more mass transit. Finally I realized it'd be cheaper to move work closer to where we built houses for the peons to live instead of close to where the boss lives. Nothing closer than a home office.
floren 2y ago
I know of one huge international pharma company with a site in South SF that is reducing conference attendance with the stated purpose of reducing emissions, while simultaneously requiring all employees to be on-site 3 days a week regardless of job function (yes, lab workers have to be in the lab for their work, but plenty of positions spend most of their time on video calls with other sites in Sweden, Netherlands, England, China, India...)

jmankhan 2y ago

the study accounts for shelter-in-place mandates during COVID: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c09642 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c09642

Rebelgecko 2y ago

The paper[1] goes into this in more depth. COVID was definitely a factor, but not the only one. For example if you look at the YOY comparisons, both halves of 2021 hadlower emissions YOY than 2020. The H1 decrease you can blame on the COVID lockdowns that lasted until May. But by July 2020 everyone who was going to WFH was WFH, and by July 2021 many people who were WFH in 2020 were commuting again. [1]: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c09642 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c09642

skeeter2020 2y ago
ICE cars are also more efficient and less poluting, which could also account for some of the decline.

hettygreen 2y ago

Don't ruin it for me! I only read the headline and was feeling justified purchasing 3000 pounds of globally mined steel, aluminum, rubber, plastic, graphite, copper, nickel, manganese and cobalt.

mepiethree 2y ago
You can feel good. the carbon debt from manufacturing is amortized over the life of the car. As long as the car is driven more than 19,000 miles, EVs are better. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/19/business/electric-vehicles-carbon-footprint-batteries.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/19/business/electric-vehicle...