False dilemma, most of the first world actually has a great standard of living without ubiquitous gas guzzlers, AC, tumble-dryers and whatnot. Some even argue

False dilemma, most of the first world actually has a great standard of living without ubiquitous gas guzzlers, AC, tumble-dryers and whatnot. Some even argue that energy efficiency can be improved by a factor of five: http://ernst.weizsaecker.de/?p=889&language=en http://ernst.weizsaecker.de/?p=889&language=en