[ahk]

Definitely a good thing if they start opening up more and start engaging with skeptics in debates instead of just appealing to authority.

But the true reason no one will believe their claims till it's too late is that they have no good solutions other than pushing us to the dark ages in terms of energy consumption.

IMO climate scientists should also start thinking about solutions to the climate problem (even if its not exactly their field). We could definitely use more people thinking about solutions rather than just describing the problem or its extent.

[lukifer]

> But the true reason no one will believe their claims till it's too late is that they have no good solutions other than pushing us to the dark ages in terms of energy consumption.

That may be true of some environmentalists, but certainly not all. For instance, a much greater number now support building new nuclear plants, as a lesser evil when compared to oil and coal.

[ahk]

My opinion is that nuclear is a non-starter due to the weight of regulations surrounding it and its capital intensive nature. We need to see radical game-changers which cannot happen in such an environment.

The recent news on the Bloom boxes has me quite hopeful however.

[InclinedPlane]

The Bloom boxes are nothing more than more efficient natural gas powered generators. If anyone truly believed that anthropogenic CO2 will cause catastrophic climate change in the 21st century they would not be looking toward Bloom boxes as a meaningful solution to that problem.

[teilo]

Though, perhaps they may be looking toward Bloom boxes as an effective way to reduce carbon emissions. Cutting emissions per kW in half is nothing to shake a stick at.

[anthonyb]

IMO you should read more widely about solutions to the climate problem. There are plenty out there for energy production: solar, geothermal and tidal, as well as measures like energy efficiency or soil improvement, but apparently little political will to see anything actually done, or to put significant amounts of investment in.