Eh, fuck it, just realized I was in a thread started by the OP.
Alternative to what?
Er, what? Can you be more generic in your "well like bad stuff, so, *shrug* amirite?" What are you even talking about specifically? You guys need to learn to break this mentality as there's actually a lot we can do, but if you keep just acting like bad stuff is bad and welp, what can we do, then nothing will be done.
Our entire federal government knew this. Even Republicans knew this. Granted they didn't actually give a shit about that, but rather were just seeking to enrich fossil fuel industry more than anything. I don't think people are that ignorant, or not knowing that is the issue there. The problem is its stupid for us to fuck over our personal health just for cheaper fossil fuel prices (that don't even fucking matter when we let corporations jack prices up with no consequences), as that just shunts the true cost to another industry. Cheap energy, regardless of where its coming from is a big problem until we ditch fossil fuels.
Yes, and ironically, if we had it likely would have done a lot to keep the level of rural flight we've seen much reduced as it would have created a ton of jobs in those regions. Hell, all the people that want to live simpler lives, borderline off grid, close to nature, would be able to much more easily. It would have likely helped a lot with homelessness as cities have been inundated with people moving there.