To hell with global warming

Take one glance at what is happening in the Gulf of Mexico these last 45 days and you will see a vivid example of why it does not matter a flying copulation at the moon whether or not fossil fuel burning is warming the planet. There are many other really good reasons to drastically reduce our burning of fossil fuels. Even if the global temperature remains right where it is now, fossil fuel extraction, consumption, and (soon enough) scarcity will wreak havoc with economies, politics, and ecosystems time and time again. Once upon a time issues of energy, environment, and society were considered in a multifaceted, multidimensional framework. That was before the monolith of global warming subsumed and displaced all other topics (thanks, Mr. Vice President).

Unfortunately, recent history has pretty well demonstrated that fossil fuel consumption will only reduce (in the large-scale and long-term) in response to economic forces, not because of well-thought out (or ill-conceived) policies. When the economy either gets too sick, or the price gets to high, or both, consumption drops. Nothing else does it. Our last chance to actually transition smoothly to a less fossil-carbon-dependent world passed 30 years ago, when the American populace resoundingly rejected reality and embraced instead three decades of insane and obscene gluttonous consumption. Those who lived then might remember that for most Americans the 1970s actually afforded a fairly comfortable lifestyle (and those who were left out then are still left out now, the booms and bubbles haven't helped them). But then the decade turned, the politics turned, and "money became the long hair of the 80s." Ask an old hippie what this means if it baffles you. As a result we have run so far beyond sustainability that there's really no hope left of a soft retreat.