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> It seems to be quite well established that not dealing with climate change is going to be significantly more expensive than taking preventative action. Over

by pfisch 8y ago

> It seems to be quite well established that not dealing with climate change is going to be significantly more expensive than taking preventative action. Over what time period though? Projections are all over the place, and it is basically impossible to predict where our technology will be 20 years from now. Maybe moderate interdiction now on our part will stave off the worst of it until we discover technologies that will get us out of this jam.

chimprich 8y ago
We haven't discovered any major technologies in the last 20 years that would make a significant difference; what makes you think the next 20 years would be any different? I'm confident we will make some gains in things like lower power consumption and better efficiency with renewables, but we're coming up against some hard physical limits; plus we are finding more toys all the time that demand more energy. The best chance of finding technological solutions is to pour money into researching clean technologies, which is not something I would be against, but it doesn't guarantee anything. Hoping for a technological solution in the future is a bit like spending all your money and taking out loans you are unable to pay in the uncertain hope of a windfall in the future.