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Bitcoin currently has much lower emissions than the direct banking emissions ≈ 99.5 MTCO₂e / year (see guesstimate below), the resulting emissions from investment are an order of magnitude greater.
UK Finance sector. - 805 MTCO₂e.
Wall Street financing - 1968 MTCO₂e
UK Finance sector. - 805 MTCO₂e.
Wall Street financing - 1968 MTCO₂e
Investment Emissions
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"When the final meltdown occurred in September 2008, Congress passed the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the (in)famous $700 billion bank bailout of the financial sector. The gains, it turned out, were privatized—the losses were socialized. Wall Street was pro-free market until they were in trouble. 2008 Bank Bailout: Its True Cost, and Who Paid It"
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Energy per transaction of Banking system
Energy per transaction is a statistic many of the fudsters like to bandy about for Bitcoin. But from a climate point of view emissions per transaction is far more important. So let's calculate emissions per transaction for the entire banking system.
Emissions per transaction = Total emissions (see chart) / Total number of transactions
Emissions per transaction = 99 / 687,200 = 144gCO₂/Transaction
Should we also include the emissions from investments ? Would this be fair ? I'd argue that because of inflation, ordinary people are forced to invest in ventures they wouldn't normally invest in. So I think it fair to include a portion of these investments. Lets say 25%.
From above emissions from investments -
UK Finance sector. - 805 MTCO₂e.
Wall Street financing - 1968 MTCO₂e
Total 2773 MTCO₂e x 25% = 693 MTCO₂e + 99 (direct emissions) = 792 MTCO₂e
UK Finance sector. - 805 MTCO₂e.
Wall Street financing - 1968 MTCO₂e
Total 2773 MTCO₂e x 25% = 693 MTCO₂e + 99 (direct emissions) = 792 MTCO₂e
Emissions per transaction = Total emissions / Total number of transactions
Emissions per transaction = 972 / 687,200 = 1,153 gCO₂/Transaction
Emissions per transaction = 972 / 687,200 = 1,153 gCO₂/Transaction
Banking emissions
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Fortunately in the UK 🇬🇧, Europe🇪🇺 & pretty much everywhere oil isn’t gushing out of the ground - low carbon technologies are cheaper. EVs 5x more efficient have 1/6 the fuel costs & Wind & Solar are the cheapest cleanest forms of power. This may not be as obvious in the US 🇺🇸 as printed money subsidies the Fossil Fuels Industry (Bitcoin fixes this).
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Universal basic income for the rich.
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Paul Krugman, an American economist famously said "the Dollar is backed by men with Guns". Governments with printed money fund the greatest CO₂e producing entity on the planet - The Military Industrial Complex.
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Refuse to invest ! Buy Bitcoin !
What if money didn't devalue ? What if it stayed the same, or its purchasing power increased over time.
If inflation is stealing the value of your savings & pensions quite deliberately via money printing, you are effectively being fleeced or forced to invest in anything that will hold its value against inflation, or ideally give a return, usually Oil & Gas. This is great for businesses, but bad for the climate & your finances.
Most Pension's are just a series of investments that you have little control over. Most have no clue as to where their pension is even invested. It's just something deducted from their pay day.
Maybe Bitcoin is the ONLY thing that can combat the Political-Financial Complex.
If inflation is stealing the value of your savings & pensions quite deliberately via money printing, you are effectively being fleeced or forced to invest in anything that will hold its value against inflation, or ideally give a return, usually Oil & Gas. This is great for businesses, but bad for the climate & your finances.
Most Pension's are just a series of investments that you have little control over. Most have no clue as to where their pension is even invested. It's just something deducted from their pay day.
Maybe Bitcoin is the ONLY thing that can combat the Political-Financial Complex.
Money Printing
Money printing = Quantitative easing, debt restructuring, M1 money supply = Insert eye roll 🥱 switch off jargon to hide the fact that they are just printing more money.
What happened in 1933 ?
US emissions
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A - The US stopped using hard money - GOLD -
Note the acceleration of US emissions around the same time. Not all these emissions can be attributed to money printing, but debasing money allows them access to your saved wealth to expand their businesses / empires. 
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"The gold standard was abandoned due to its propensity for volatility, as well as the constraints it imposed on governments: by retaining a fixed exchange rate, governments were hamstrung in engaging in expansionary policies to, for example, reduce unemployment during economic recessions." Wikipedia
Conclusions
If Bitcoin could reduce Banking, Gold, banking investments, Military & drive #De-growth, this could drive the changes on a level required to address the climate emergency !
