" Ethics and Risk Assessment "

Suppose, for example, that you are an economist asked to advise Congress on legislation limiting the use of carbon based fuels. If you knew that burning such fuels at the present rate would so heat the surface of the planet that life would end in two centuries, you would have little difficulty endorsing any necessary legislation, however burdensome. If, on the other hand, you knew that burning carbon-based fuel even at much higher rates than now would do little harm to life here, you would probably not endorse any sacrifice at all.