How many people need to set the A/C below 80F or the heat above 60F?
How many people need to fly to Hawaii for a vacation? Drive to the beach.
How many people need to drive to the beach? Stay at home and knit.
How many people need to have kids? Each kid has a huge carbon footprint.
How many people need to drive to the mountains to go skiing?
Most things that make life easier, more pleasant, or more fun, are not needs.
Isn't this how you drive change? You have to give people the desire to change before they can actually change...unless you think authoritarianism is a solution (not saying you do, but I'm not sure what other options there are other than 1) give people the opportunity and desire to change, or 2) force them to change).
The speed at which we are changing aside...we ARE changing as a society, and that should be celebrated.
Why stop at improving their lives by reducing our CO2 emissions? Why not institute a 10% income tax on all Americans and send that money and resources to subsistence farmers in rural India? That would surely improve their lives and help their "real needs" even more.
How much of your income do you donate to subsistence farmers in rural India? For many people, the answer is "none".
Why is there an expectation that we are obligated to improve the lives of subsistence farmers in rural India by reducing our carbon footprint, but not an expectation that we should donate money?