Yes, and that’s why I don’t have nearly as many problems with poor countries using oil, but it will hurt them too if they become too dependent on one resource. That’s what killed Equatorial Guinea and binds Saudi Arabia’s ability to think of anything but their oil sources. Oil itself is a good start for developing countries, but it cannot, must not, should not, be the monopolistic model for their energy sector, or they will suffer from economic dependence and fight over the bare amounts of oil leftover.

I am MORE than well aware that the effect of one individual is practically nothing on the world stage. If a person’s life’s worth of emissions was removed from the global change in CO2, itd only delay its increase for about a second. That’s why we need to pull the big levers and make the big decisions to hold back the big polluters, while encouraging, not forcing, individuals to take steps to cause less damage. Individually, emissions look like nothing, and humans have always been horrible at seeing gradual changes, that’s why such denialism remains. Natural rights don’t have to be taken to fix rapid climate change, nor is that the goal.

The tale you tell of “individuals broke the weather and it’s all your fault” is the same tale I don’t believe in either. Corporations denied climate change’s existence the moment that they discovered it (ironically), so they have been taking measures to reduce action to continue profits. Before, it was claiming it didn’t exist, or minimizing its effect, sometimes even saying that it’s good. Now it’s flipped to the individual, claiming that it’s all the individuals fault and that there’s nothing we can do about it now. That’s an attitude that intentionally causes guilt and forced inaction because of those lies. We can do something, it’s not someone’s fault for living, though we should take steps to reduce our impact, the main problem is those pulling the big levers.

Its not about government, it’s about who stands to gain from green energy and climate change being ignored: fossil fuel industries, lazy and vain politicians, the status quo, the “free market” dominated by corporate interests over everything, and the rich. Those in power have the most ignorance and flagrant disregard for our environment and needs. For a while, climate change was considered a myth by both parties, and is only now considered to be a problem by most of the democrat party, though they don’t do nearly enough to address it. The democrat party stands to greenwash or under-do it, while the Republican Party flat out ignores the problem.