[rwallace]

Have the governments of Saudi Arabia, Venezuela etc. actually been blocking progress? If so, how? As far as I can see, the primary blockers of progress on carbon dioxide reduction have been:

1. Environmentalists, interfering with nuclear energy which is the only full substitute available now. (I'm optimistic about solar and wind, but there is much work to be done before they will be more than partial substitutes.)

2. Zoning laws, particularly in the US, encouraging people to drive far more than should be necessary.

3. The US government blocking (for what reason, I don't know) the introduction of a tax on aviation fuel that would cause the price of airline tickets to accurately reflect the real cost.

What are the other major ones? I'm letting the Chinese off the hook for the amount of coal they're burning because they have actually been making a lot of progress; I don't know of any gratuitous blockers there.

[danieltillett]

Yes the governments of OPEC along with the other owners of large oil deposits have been actively blocking progress. Where do think the whole climate change "skeptical" message comes from? The playbook being used is identical to what the tobacco companies used to block effective action on smoking for decades. As a society we would have been far better off buying the tabacco companies out and winding the industry up over time. If we had done this millions of people would still be alive.