What is the appropriate response to the threat of climate change? To some climate activists, it means we must give up on economic growth, capitalism or even industrial society itself. This extreme viewpoint, if correct, would require modern humanity to abandon much of what makes life comfortable and secure. It also causes many on the political right — and some in the centre — to suspect climate activism of being merely an excuse to end capitalism. That suspicion makes the lure of irrational climate change denial all the more seductive. Fortunately, a large number of people accept the reality and the danger of climate change, while believing that humanity can escape most of the threat without the need for dramatic decreases in quality of life. This will require a combination of innovation and regulation — technologies to make prosperity less dependent on carbon, and policies, such as carbon taxes, to discourage releasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Already great strides have ...
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