What's the moral response to global warming?

RDN's contribution to a panel discussion aired on BC4's The World and on BBC World (tv stations), 30 July, 2004.

1 In the degree to which one believes global warming will hurt people, one is obliged to do something about it. Especially if one believes it is one's own fault.

2 This is true whether or not the good one does will be swamped by other people's indolence. Global warming's harm, if any, will be the cumulative effect of all our small "harms". If the greenhouse gases of 100,000 people (say) cause the dealth of 100,000 people, each of the polluters caused - and perhaps could have have saved - a life.

3 We actually have very little idea what the effect of greenhouse emissions will be: Mostly benign? Mostly malign? For whom? When?

4 We have even less idea what effect a 10, 20, 30, or 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gases will be. The scientists who sign-up for the UN's IPCC "consensus" mostly suggest a 70 or 80 percent reduction is necessary. That equates to roughly to an allowance per person of a tenth of an average European's emissions, a twentieth of an average American's, or about the same as an average Indian's.

5 Suppose we believe the results of gloabl warming to be severe, and our fault, will we do anything? We like the things which we do which are "bad" very much.

6 The Third World will soon swamp the West's emissions with well-deserved and much-needed emissions of their own. So if we're in for a bumpy ride, it'll probably be bumpy anyway. But see 1 and 2. And maybe we could make it a bit or a lot less bumpy.

7 To re-engineer Westerner society to reduce greenhouse gas emissions quite a bit would not be very expensive, but it would involve nuclear power in the short run. Are we "green" enough to build nuclear?

8 Do we want to buy the poor world nuclear power?

10 To seriously reduce greenhouse emissions, almost all of us Westerners would probably have to cut out almost all our air travel, much of our car and public transport travel, and become vegetarian. Any of us could start now, if we wanted.

Any takers?