Why doesn't Barack Obama just command the sun to stop shining? "SUN, STOP SHINING". He did after all, promise to stop the oceans from rising and that he would heal the planet.
small changes have massive cascading effects. But you'd have to know something about science to understand equilibriums. This is actually your greatest post ever in D&D, I am sure you will follow it up with your worst post. I actually agree with you here. Cutting carbon emissions through taxes is a fool's game. It's too late. Global Warming and Climate Change is coming. Even if you stopped all emissions the feedback loop is now in effect and it is like a runaway train. It won't stop until a new equilibrium is reached and the pendulum swings the opposite way. And it will get worse in fact. The only solution is Fusion Power. The world needs to make this the number on priority. It is the one technology that America should lead in, but has not been leading. If there was anything to ever invest in, it is this. Whichever nation is first with this technology will get the biggest bump in jobs, riches, and power - political and electrical. Cheap sustainable energy - practically for nothing. Imagine the possibilities. Coal will be a joke. All fossil fuels will be relegated to back-up generators. I am waiting for the American leader to embrace this long-term modern day mission to the moon achievement
Keep in mind there are other reasons besides just addressing global warming to cut down on carbon usage. I studied fusion energy in college in classes about sustainable energy and there are still many questions about how feasible it is. Cold fusion is questionable and might require rare and exotic materials to be possible. Hot fusion using lasers, magnets and plasma still requires a huge amount of energy input so you aren't getting much out. Another problem is how fusion energy would be distributed. Fusion based motors might simply not be practical even if a way is found to get more energy than is what is inputted.
I would think climate change is the main reason. As for Fusion power - they are making progress - but in other countries. Cold fusion is a myth and rejected by the scientific community. There is a great article in wired about the progress with fusion: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/09/fusion-energy-breaking-even/ I really think we should focus our dollars here.
There are other pollution aspects to carbon dependent fuels particularly with coal and oil from tar sands. There is also the issue that these fuels aren't renewable and that we often to get these fuels we use up a lot of another valuable resources, clean water. Not a bad idea but I think there are still questions about how much energy return you can get from it, as noted in the article we are not even at the break even point. My own personal view is that we should be using renewables (wind, solar, tidal and geo thermal) with hydrogen fuel cells. The renewables when plentiful generate electricity to crack water into hydrogen and oxygen. Those are then stored and when the wind isn't blowing Sun etc.. electricity is generated from the hydrogen and oxygen in fuel cells and you get water back in return. Further the fuel cells are portable and can be used to power cars and other engines.
Didn't the ice shelf set a new record for amount of ice at this point in the year. An all time 33-year high (when the first measurements were taken). I didn't watch the video yet (no sound), but are these opposing conclusions? http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/...ice-area-sets-another-record-nsidc-is-silent/
It boils down to a matter of personal opinion. Conservation of resources is far more important - to some people. Oil is too valuable to burn as a fuel - to some people. Climate change and global eustatic sea-level rise have a negative conotation - to some people.
