Social Change

How about this?

Step 1. Calculate the level of emissions that Man can produce without contributing to global warming. Call this level the Emissions Ceiling.

Step 2. Identify a country that currently produces at the Emissions Ceiling.

Step 3. Impose global laws to bring about forced regression of development on all countries currently above the ceiling level to bring them down to the level of the country identified in Step 2.

Step 4 (optional). Provide (genuine) development aid to all countries significantly below the ceiling level to bring them up to the ceiling.

Result. All the world's nations live equitably and we no longer have to worry about global warming.

Prognosis. Not gonna happen. Those of us who live in the First World are no way going to be prepared to reduce our standard of living to one which is compatible with life at the Emissions Ceiling, perhaps one comparable to today's Tanzania.

Necessity is the mother of invention, and in our predominant capitalist world ('our' as in 'belonging to those of us who are fortunate enough to, by choice, live in and benefit from it, as opposed to those who are oppressed by it or slaves to it') necessity means 'economic necessity'. Until a solution to global warming is economically imperative, the policy tinkers and often misinformed, often half-hearted (though laudable) individual efforts will do nothing to reduce our emissions and change our society to the benefit of our planet.

Having said that, it doesn't mean that we should stop our misinformed and half-hearted efforts. Perhaps the global warming phenomenon is a genius ruse created by some social philanthropist who wants us all to rediscover the adventure in overland travel (rather than the teleportation of air travel), or to get all the fat people walking and riding bikes rather than using 4x4s. This is certainly my hope!