Is Net Zero Emissions an Impossible Goal?

"Getting leaders who are inspired by these huge challenges, rather than burying their heads in the sand, would be a big step in the right direction."

There are no leaders anymore. The world is being driven by a message-passing algorithm, called "the economy" (or perhaps, the political-economy.) This algorithm is one of the best AI algorithms we have, known as "belief propagation". And indeed, we have constructed wonders at its behest. But, as is typical of AI algorithms, this one does not generalize beyond a certain domain. Unless we demote this algorithm, we are very likely going to get into some serious trouble.