I don’t think the consumption of even a few extra degrees of the whole population of NYC is even comparable to the consumption of Times Square.
I mean, YMMV. Lots of math behind the hardware that generates the climate, the insulation (or absence therein) that degrades unit temperature over time, the efficiency of Times Square light fixtures, yadda yadda yadda.
But there’s definitely a Bloomberg Era attitude towards resource consumption that amounts to “rich people can afford to live richly, poor people must learn to live poorly”. And then there’s a more materialist response, which asks the question “How do we maximize the quality of life at the minimum long term socio-economic cost?”
A regional government that tackles unit insulation, efficient energy transmission, and clean power sourcing does infinitely more to reduce carbon emissions than one that just hangs up billboards saying “Please Use Less”.
I mean, YMMV. Lots of math behind the hardware that generates the climate, the insulation (or absence therein) that degrades unit temperature over time, the efficiency of Times Square light fixtures, yadda yadda yadda.
But there’s definitely a Bloomberg Era attitude towards resource consumption that amounts to “rich people can afford to live richly, poor people must learn to live poorly”. And then there’s a more materialist response, which asks the question “How do we maximize the quality of life at the minimum long term socio-economic cost?”
A regional government that tackles unit insulation, efficient energy transmission, and clean power sourcing does infinitely more to reduce carbon emissions than one that just hangs up billboards saying “Please Use Less”.