If the world was able to switch, today, from fossil fuels to nuclear, the world supply of uranium (including the stuf that is being strip mined in national parks!), our current technology is gear up for, would last
48hrs. And power stations are made from concrete which contributes nearly 5% of global CO2 emmissions, and uranium ore is mined in one of the most polluting ways imaginable, don't think it is a magic bullet.
Nuclear is not a long term option, it can't be. Perhaps we look at the french and think they've got the right idea, but if the whole world turned their production to nuclear, we'd soon be having wars over more resource issues. And if we've got nuclear we then Cannot tell the likes of Iran it can't have.
I have to say Red is right about change, and change management.
Unless all the people who have to effect a change want to effect a change, or are compelled to do so, the change will not happen.
They way our society works means that tinkering round the edges won't work.
The problem with climate change (to use that broad overarching term, which is often misussed), is that it does involves so many complex factors that chnaging only one aspect may not (probably won't) have the desired effect.
And our consumer based society (where we have become consumers, not citizens) is based on growth, disposability, lack of value and has a monetary gain built into every trasaction we do.
And almost every other culture in the world aspires to what we have in terms of material wealth, and as has been said why shouldn't they.
But isn't there something a bit odd about that? I have stayed in an island nation, where one year there was a bumper crop, all the farmers made loads of money and instead of investing in their farms (or water harvesting which they badly needed), rushed out and bought cars.
No problem their they had the money for the first time and it was an aspiration.
Except the main island was 10 km by 4km, had one dirt track road and no petrol station. The government then had to spend a huge proportion of it budget building a 'proper' tarred road (1.5kms worth), with resources brought in from overseas.
The cars are not used for anything but staus symbols, and the year after they were all bought the world market was swamped and no one had any money to buy fuel as they couldn't sell their crops. And this is in a country less than 4m above sea level and will probably feel the effects of climate change more than most.
All that said though, I am still hopefull for the future.
I have to be, its an amazing world out there and we don't understand even half of it.