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"If we delay serious action to 2025, we would then need to cut global emissions by 75 percent in a quarter-century or less."
Sorry Mr. Romm, you a have fallen a little behind what leading scientists like James Hansen are now saying. We pretty much need to cut climate-changing emissions by at least 75% over the next 15-20 years or risk being unable to reverse the worst (potential extinction) of climate change. We are already at CO2 levels that are putting us at risk and every year that we allow them to increase is another nail in our collective coffins.
In order to do this, we cannot wait for industry to get on board nor can we let market devices dictate emissions. You express the post-Reagan fear of quotas, but the only way to get the middle class and poorer Americans on board will be to force the extremely wealthy into the same boat as the rest of us. Using cap and trade or carbon taxes just means that the poor do without heat and transportation while Al Gore and other uber-wealthy continue to jet around; quotas are inevitable, equitable and, if sold properly, acceptable to most Americans.
Reagan convinced us that ostentatious consumption was patriotic and that "greed is good". We desperately need to return to the WWII spirit that, with our survival on the line, conservation is patriotic, greed is bad and doing without is admirable.
