Canvas #2
Monday, August 18th, 2008
I suspect people are flattered, in a rather perverse way, by the idea that their lifestyle threatens the whole planet rather than just the livelihoods of millions of people they have never met. But the same sense of scale that flatters may also enfeeble. They may come to think that the problems are too great for them to do anything about it.
Rolling carbon/climate issues into the great moral imperative of improving the lives of the poor seems more likely to be a sustainable long term strategy. The most important thing about environmental change is that it hurts people. The basis of our response should be human solidarity.
The planet will take care of itself.
What is Your Dangerous Idea?
by Oliver Mortin
Oliver Mortin is the chief news and features editor of Nature. He is the author of Mapping Mars and Eating the Sun.
ISBN: 978-06-121495-0