Global Warming - Will It Take More Sacrifice Than You Think?

I have read a couple of articles by George Monbiot and now he has a book out called Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning. Here is an article talking about his book, Al Gore and what needs to be done to combat global warming.

"We wish our governments to pretend to act," he writes. "We get the moral satisfaction of saying what we know to be right, without the discomfort of doing it. My fear is that the political parties in most rich nations have already recognized this. They know that we want tough targets, but that we also want those targets to be missed. They know that we will grumble about their failure to curb climate change, but that we will not take to the streets. They know that nobody ever rioted for austerity."

Cut.

"The implications of biospheric equity are so profound and so disturbing, that it is understandable why American environmentalists shy away from discussing the issue. Currently, global carbon emissions are about 7 billion tons, roughly, 1 ton per person. But the average American generates, directly and indirectly, some 10 tons per capita. Thus, to save the planet and cleanse our resource sins, Americans must go far beyond freezing greenhouse gas emissions. As a nation, we must reduce them by more than 90 percent, taking into account the sharp reductions in existing global emissions necessary to stabilize the world's climate."

This is the kind of sacrifice that, I can safely say, most people will not be willing to make. We are talking a great social, economic and "lifestyle" change that would be drastic and spartan compared with the past.

What do you think?