Climate Change Mitigation Isn’t a Game

In 2009, when I was in the process of writing Renewable Energy–Facts and Fantasies, I took a trip down to the Scripps Institute to interview one of the most visible climate scientists on Earth, Dr. V. Ramanathan. “Ram,” as he likes to be called, on the subject of global warming.  What surprised me most was this: here’s a slender, aging, and extremely intelligent man, openly explaining why he believes that society needs to get angry enough to demand change, and that scientists have to lead the movement.  He certainly wasn’t calling for violence, or some form of “revolution,” but it was clear that he thought civilization needed to band together and get as loud and tough as necessary to drive change.

Fast-forward a decade, and here we have scientists actually calling for civil disobedience.