Cruise control

Suppose we found ourselves in the midst of an epidemic of a disease so contagious that to have any hope of preventing global catastrophe it would be imperative not only to contain it, but also drastically to reduce its prevalence worldwide. Suppose the experts were divided, not on the magnitude of the problem, but on the world’s ability ever to contain it. Would we then expect one or more sectors of society to argue that they should be allowed to continue to spread the illness? What reason could they possibly give to justify continuing to infect people?

This hypothetical situation has distinct parallels to our current climate change challenge. There is no disputing that climate change is occurring. Each day brings new evidence that global climate change is accelerating even faster than we thought, causing ecological disturbances that are more serious than we expected. It will take action by every sector of society to contain the resulting damage. We do not have the luxury of picking and choosing one source of global warming pollution over another, or designing a portfolio of a few things that must change – every sector must improve. If we might ultimately fail in some areas, that is all the more reason to...

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