[crdoconnor]

It's a very easy problem to solve through regulation. Just tax carbon emissions.

The hard thing about it is not scuppering economic growth (plenty of ways to achieve that), but keeping a lid on lobbying and bribes by the carbon industry until their political back is broken and renewables can take over.

[eloff]

When you can get all of the world's major economic powers to agree on that, then you can say it's easy. In principle it's easy, but in reality good luck!

[crdoconnor]

Australia managed to do it without the agreement of other countries. It wasn't any bullshit about competitiveness that caused the repeal either. It was pressure from the coal industry.

[eloff]

Yes any country could do it alone, but all it does is slightly reduce global demand, Australia being a fairly small country population-wise likely didn't make a dent. All other things being equal it doesn't leave fossil fuels in the ground, just increases the amount of time before we extract them. That does buy time for the human race to find a lasting solution.