🎧 The Tragic Choices of Climate Change

Episode summary: David talks to Helen Thompson and Adam Tooze about the choices facing the world in addressing climate change. Can we transition away from fossil fuels while maintaining our current ways of living? Will we act in time if we also insist on taking our time? Can the West uphold its values while getting its hands dirty with China? Plus we discuss whether American democracy is the worst system of all for doing what needs to be done. Talking Points: The transition away from fossil fuels to non-carbon energy sources is, for now, constrained by the laws of physics around energy use. - Converting one source of energy to another wastes a lot of energy. - Do we make a bet on transcending the laws of physics via technological innovation when we have to deal with the timescales imposed by climate change? Or is this way of framing things too negative? - The story of modernity is about making technological bets against existing ways of life. - Is a bet with a ticking clock different? How do we actually get to carbon…