Yes, of course i agree that having the right infrastructure in place can make the best choice the default.

However, we run into a problem.

Take your example, “If your local grid is powered by renewables + storage, then no personal choice or sacrifice is needed.”

In order for that to happen, a massive investment needs to be made, the right government (who supports the idea) needs to be in place, people need to be willing to pay more (for the implementation and cost of this greener tech), and the public needs enough reason to demand it.

In your other example, “Same goes for cycling when there’s a good city-wide network of protected bike lanes vs mixed traffic.”, we run into a similar set of issues, plus a twist:

Certain infrastructure, especially cycling infrastructure, doesn’t get built because there’s no demand. But there’s no (current) demand because such infrastructure doesn’t exist.

I’ve been to enough city planning meetings to know that this is a very real roadblock, and it’s hard to convince municipal planners to spend taxpayer dollars building cycling infrastructure without this demand already in place.

In that case, you do have to make an effort (and often a sacrifice) in order to be the demand that planners are looking for. But I’ll say that it’s often very difficult to convince someone to ride on (current) dangerous infrastructure to make a point.

The same could be said for public transit. And if you manage to convince your local government that there’s enough demand, it could be years or decades before the infrastructure is built.

I’ve looked at our region’s active transportation plans from years ago, and much of the planned bike lanes never happened, despite there still being a need. It’s incredibly frustrating.

But what about personal choices that can be made right now? Committing to a plant-based diet, making an effort to go plastic free, buying second hand when possible and not replacing things until they are broken, etc.

How do we convince individuals to make these personal choices, rather than have them wait for someone else to do something about climate change?