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Michael's avatar

Great interview! Your question and answers covered a lot of ground and left this reader with the feeling he understands now Matt's philosophical outlook pretty well: pragmatic, gradualist, forward thinking and concerned with equity outcomes. No "doomer" he! But also very far from laissez faire. Congratulations on having such an important voice weighing in on such important topics. Also, loved your parentheticals!

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Sam Matey's avatar

Thanks a lot! I think your comment is a really good summary of this interview's energy. And thanks for the shoutout-I definitely use parentheticals a lot in my writing, and I try to make them interesting.

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Dec 13, 2022
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Sam Matey's avatar

Those are excellent points. I think Yglesias says in this interview that one of the most impactful things that middle-class Westerners can do is donate to high-impact charities that help the people most at risk from climate change, like those assessed by GiveWell that are focused on avoiding deaths from preventable diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. Obviously that wouldn't be recommended for someone living paycheck to paycheck, though.

I personally would recommend voting for climate-smart candidates, donating if it doesn't negatively impact your family's standard of living, and supporting positive-climate-impact projects when they come your way-perhaps testifying at a zoning board or town meeting in support of proposed renewable energy development, for example.

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