Optimism and Climate Change

The other day, I had a lunch meeting with two folks from a start-up that distributes an array of eco-friendly products.  As we were finishing up, one asked me, “Are you optimistic?”

I knew he wasn’t asking me about my general personality, but rather about my take on the probability that humankind can avert the catastrophic effects of climate change and other forms of environmental degradation.

I always answer questions like this in the affirmative.

I’m not in love with Gandhi’s argument at left.  Just because a certain type of disaster has never happened in the past doesn’t mean that it won’t in the future.

But there is no reason to believe that the entire human race is just going to sit around and listen to the greenwashing of the fossil fuel industry while the planet slowly bakes.