'We've done it before': how not to lose hope in the fight against ecological disaster

Some days it can feel as if climate catastrophe is inevitable. But history is full of cases - such as the banning of whaling and CFCs - that show humanity can come together to avert disasterOnce upon a time, the world was powered by whale. Oil made from whale blubber burns cleanly and well, though it smells strongly of fish. It was, for a while, the perfect fuel. To meet the growing demand, whales were hunted almost to extinction.And then we discovered that oil could come from the ground. Lamps once lit by rendered blubber were swiftly changed over to run on what Americans call kerosene and the British call paraffin. Later, those lamps were changed to run on electricity, and instead of burning oil in the lamps themselves, we began to burn it in power plants miles away. Continue reading...