Apocalypse Not Now: Saving the Earth Demands Positive Vision

Apocalyptic thinking and small solutions aren’t capable of saving the world in the Inconvenient Truth age; instead, we need optimism and innovation funding, say New Republic writers Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger. Reducing energy consumption, at the root of global warming, is not realistic, they argue.

The mammoth challenge we face "is to double global energy production by mid-century while simultaneously cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half," they write. The answer is not to "limit human power" but to "unleash" it by funding research and innovative technologies that will ultimately make clean energy cheaper than dirty energy. (More environmentalism stories.)