Lynne Kiesling
I am late to the party because I was grading last week, but I commend to your attention Ron Bailey's first, second, third, and fourth essays from the United Nations conference on climate change in Bali over the last two weeks. Ron is a thoughtful analyst of the climate change questions, and that thoughtfulness shows in these comments.
Lynne,
I agree regarding the pieces by Ron Bailey. Thanks for the links.
There are several first order questions regarding climate change for which there are not yet unique, definitive answers.
What is the ideal global average temperature?
What is the ideal atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration?
By what percentage must AGW emissions be reduced to achieve the ideal?
Over what time period must that reduction occur?
Who will convince all global emitters to do what must be done?
While some, or all, of these questions may seem trivial, the answers are crucial to any serious effort to halt and/or reverse global warming caused by anthropogenic carbon emissions and to halt and/or reverse the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere.
The answers to the first four questions above are critical components of the "goal"; the answer to question 5 is critical to the plan.
"A goal without a plan is just a wish.", Antoine de St. Exupery
"A plan without a goal is insanity.", Ed Reid