It doesn't take all that much innovation. We have pretty much all the necessary technology to reduce our carbon emissions almost to zero without greatly impacting quality of live. We just need to build a very expensive amount of renewables, improve the electric grid, and improve energy efficiency using proven technology like insulating homes, switching from furnaces to heat pumps and using electric cars and public transport.

Bingo.

It's not unrealistically "techo optimistic" to point out that technical solutions are often much more effective and realistic to implement than trying to change deep-seated culture.

Imagine if we responded to ozone depletion by insisting people give up air conditioning and refrigerators instead of just developing non-depleting refrigerants like we did. That would've been a fast-track to public apathy or downright hostility toward fighting ozone depletion.

Exactly. The "better life" in America generally means living in suburbs in a McMansion and driving 2-3 hours per day in traffic because your house is so far from your job. Why anyone thinks this is better than living in a walkable city is beyond me; Japan and western European nations have shown by example that you can certainly put lots of people into a fairly dense city where the main transport methods are walking and subways while still having extremely low crime rates, and a lifestyle like this requires far fewer resources than a typical suburban American one.

Ah, the omniscient position. If only everyone behaved like me, the world would be a better place.

I'll continue to define what a better life looks like for myself, and I'll continue to respect the right of others to do the same, thank you very much.

Ah, the tragedy of the commons.

There are aspects of life where this philosophy is great. There are also aspects of life - in particular, items touching on exhaustible resources - where a community-level decision making process really is needed. Water rights in the West are a great example.

> I'll continue to define what a better life looks like for myself, and I'll continue to respect the right of others to do the same, thank you very much.

do you think that if everyone behaved like this, the world would be a better place?

Of course. How could we presume to know what's best for people we don't even know?

If your "right" to a "better" life involves destroying the environment and the air that we all have to breathe, then why exactly should I respect your "right"?

Yeah, this is a tricky scenario. It would not be cool if we were neighbors and I dumped nasty shit in the water nearby.

On the other hand, developing nations have been dumping nasty shit in the air for years as a tradeoff for an improved standard of living. If I was someone living in poverty in a developing nation, I'd hope you would respect my right to burn some coal to improve my standard of living.