Progress And Carbon

So you wish to save the world. Sure, we could reduce carbon output and *prevent* global warming. You know, the global warming that's already out there. It's nasty, just in case anyone's wondering. Then again, nobody's really dying from it. I mean, dying in the hundreds of millions. There's no reason to panic, precisely because it isn't a disaster yet. In fact, nobody would do anything about it until it becomes a right and proper disaster, with irreversible effects.

So...what keeps everyone from doing something about anything? Probably progress. The newly industrialized countries need their carbon. In fact, they'd need more carbon in the near future. But then the developed countries need their carbon, too. They suck electricity like...well...you know. They can soak the losses, but they won't. Doing so would mean *economic* disaster for them. The sort that allows developing and newly industrialized countries to catch up and possibly become viable competitors. We do not want competition. Carbon pumps will stay.