3 ms·

Yeah, but the whole world has to collaborate to do this. That is the collective action problem, and that is where my doubts lie when people say "we can manage

• topkai22 7y ago
  In my view, I’ve been surprised how much the world has already been willing to attack the problem. More conservative fossil fuel exporting countries like the US and Russia are resisting, but more left leaning and fuel importing countries such as most EU members and China are riving ahead with reforms. Perhaps as importantly very low carbon and carbon neutral energy and transportation options are becoming cost competitive with fossil fuels right now, without subsidies, and look to be continuing efficiency gains. It’s not inconceivable that carbon free becomes the standard for new vehicles and power plants purely on economic factors in the near-ish future. As that happens, the political constituencies that benefit from carbon tax and other emissions reducing schemes grow and you get a positive feedback loop. I know I sound a bit Pollyanna ish, but I wasn’t always- I actually expected the word to keep emitting because the near term human costs were high.Recent data on the cost of these options coming down has convinced me otherwise.