Getting past climate change chaos to find Canada's eco-affluence: Don Pittis

Martin observed that humans annually were using 200 per cent of what the world could sustainably produce, exhausting minerals, soil and ecosystems.

Oddly enough, the huge economic benefits that fossil fuels have provided in the past may make refocusing our attention on eco-affluence difficult in the future.

As Rubin pointed out, many Albertans insist that oil sands extraction should continue to expand, even while falling share prices are telling oil sands companies to back off.

This week, China announced it is changing its tax rules to encourage the use of commercial non-polluting vehicles.

But many governments, especially in North America, are reluctant to interfere in the marketplace to redirect their economies, thinking it smacks of big government.

The Martin School's Allen says that may come back to bite them once the impact of climate change worsens.

"I find it quite ironic that a lot of opponents of short-term action on greenhouse gas emissions oppose them in the name of maintaining a small state," says Allen.

"If we don't get on with making a managed transition away from high emissions, climate change might actually be a reason for a dramatic extension of the state."