Sacrifice for the greater good is the wrong way of framing it. It’s not a sacrifice at all. It’s a prudent investment. If a huge tree next to your house is sta

Sacrifice for the greater good is the wrong way of framing it. It’s not a sacrifice at all. It’s a prudent investment. If a huge tree next to your house is starting to lean and is in danger of falling and causing tens of thousands worth of damage to your roof and exterior, is paying a few thousand to remove the tree a sacrifice? Yes we could adapt to climate change but investing now in non-carbon-based technologies would be far cheaper and safer. This wrong framing is actually the fault of the environmental movement which from the start has framed this like a moral panic and reform crusade. I credit that to the movement emerging from a culture with protestant puritan DNA. We got “forgive me nature for I have sinned” which is bullshit. George Carlin gave a good retort. “Stop saying save the Earth! The Earth will be fine. We are fucked.” We are what we are trying to save. “Nature” will be fine.