Comments richard schumacher has made

I wish Tesla well. I'll probably never afford a $100,000 car, but I would happily pay $6 per gallon for artificial carbon-neutral gasoline for my Prius. One such process is described here:

http://www.lanl.gov/news/index.php/fuseaction/home.story/story_id/12554

Before much longer coal must be banned.

Nothing else will make enough of a difference.  We need (or is it now, "'we' needs"?) to make it known that the price of curing global warming is this: $0.20 per kiloWatt-hour for electricity from nuclear, wind and Solar sources; and $5 per gallon for artificial vehicle fuels, free of fossil carbon, manufactured from air and water.

As for heavy hitters, the insurance companies have now recognized that the effects of global warming will hurt them very badly.  They can be powerful and influential allies in the fight.  On Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection unveils ambitious $300 million ad campaign posted 1 year, 8 months ago 18 Responses

Optimistic view of Earth in 2050

...assuming that neutron-free fusion power has not been perfected and that artificial intelligence does not have other plans for us:

All fossil fuels have been outlawed.  Fission reactors fuelled with uranium, plutonium and thorium are the largest single energy sources; the uranium/plutonium fuel cycle is under the strict control of a democratic international regime with military enforcement powers to prevent weaponization (thorium is not under this control because it is impossible to weaponize).  Wind, ground-based Solar, geothermal, ocean thermal, and tidal power are widespread with all the best sites already developed.  Many existing hydro sites have become unuseable because of sedimentation or lack of rain and are being dismantled; water for drinking and irrigation is commonly provided by seawater desalination plants.  The first space-based Solar power stations have entered commercial service; completely clean and essentially unlimited, it is expected that this will provide the great majority of future growth in energy supply.

All aircraft, ships, cars and trucks are fuelled by artificial liquid hydrocarbons made from atmospheric CO2 and water, and which are thus carbon-neutral.  Road vehicles are all plug-in hybrids; their energy-storage units are strictly limited in size and constantly monitored because it would be easy to use high-energy units as bombs.  Much long-distance transport is by electrified trains.  

Most of the world now has a high standard of living; consequently the rate of population growth is dropping rapidly and Earth's population will probably never exceed nine billion.  The great majority live in large, dense cities, as these allow the most efficient distribution and use of energy and materials.  But the leveling off of atmospheric CO2 came too late and the Greenland ice sheet is collapsing, creating a quarter-billion refugees from low-lying countries.  There are fierce debates about which parts of which coastal cities can be protected by seawalls and which must be abandoned.  On America's climate and energy future posted 1 year, 12 months ago 15 Responses

Wonder of wonders!

There has been very little argument about one of N&S's premises: that conservation alone cannot solve the world's energy and environmental problems. Widespread recognition of that fact means we can start to make some progress.On Shellenberger & Nordhaus respond to critics posted 2 years, 2 months ago 23 Responses