Too Stupid?

In a recent interview with the Guardian, James Lovelock remarked that humans are too stupid to prevent climate change. We're definitely not able to deal with all the complexity involved in the issue. That's probably why we get taken so easily by skeptics who have no real evidence behind what they say. Just read the thread of comments after any article on climate change. Good luck to all of us.

It's pretty crazy. I just stared off and wondered about this moment in history. Essentially we are at the end of our species on planet earth. I try and deny this as much as the next person, I must admit. I'm just starting to realize how beautiful and perfectly complex our home is. And as much as I am disappointed in our species I think that we are a special community. We could lead really comfortable lives as hunter gatherers. I know some people think that hunter gatherers really had a hard life but the truth is something much different. If you can build a supercomputer then you can hunt successfully stalk a deer with a few friends. And if you can't catch one you can always pick mushrooms or other edible wild plants. Tan and sew together a few hides and you've got a mobile home. Life was not scary in those days because we had each other and we had our wonderful inventiveness and a bountiful world. But life is definitely scary today, with the prospect of runaway climate change looming.

I'll say it again, when the economy shrunk 3% last year we had a 3% reduction in GHGs. How much clearer does it have to be?

I feel pretty powerless to stop this raging juggernaut of civilization. I think the key is for me to not be afraid to speak out. I may not be able to do much but I can remind people of our insanity. With a little luck we'll never recover from this recession (given peak oil this is not an unreasonable pronouncement). Every year the global economy will shrink, GHGs will shrink and the population will shrink as well and we'll head back to a more balanced life and eliminated the threat of anthropocentric climate change. I would have preferred it if this had been a choice, and people are going to be really angry, but it isn't and that's fine. It's the price you pay for being so stupid, as Lovelock would say.