Comment by alexanderstears

I don't think we have to address rationality / irrationality in action.

If I'm following your point you're saying that some people make choices against constraints and that we should understand their constraints before we impugn their actions.

And you're absolutely right. I don't begrudge anyone for driving a truck who uses a truck, and much of the debate about 'what you need' seems to follow this thinking - if you're using your truck in such a way that a sedan is a viable alternative, how costly is it really to put that person in a sedan? And that's a very valid point (personally, I think we have to many trucks and SUVs on the road because fuel is unreasonably cheap and trucks / suv owners don't bear the full costs of crashing / insuring them).

But we can ask that people do the things they expect of others - or at least it's defensible to ask someone to be the change they want to see in the world.

The person who lives in the sticks might have an opportunity to grow their own food, and depending on their views about the environment it's an avenue to explore.

And there's also a point about 'harm reduction' - driving a car to get groceries is more defensible than driving an SUV to get a candy bar and leaving it running while you shop to keep the A/C pumping.

If someone has to drive a car, they need to understand that not all cars pollute alike. A 2016 Prius pollutes orders of magnitude less than a 1959 Chevrolet 2 ton truck and the person should consider ways they can reduce their harm to the environment if they want others to do the same.