"The world is not where it should be. Every nation should be conserving more, and moving to sources that do not output so much greenhouse gas. That means improvements for everyone, especially the world's biggest source of those gases."

As long as America remains the worlds largest industrial producer, it is logical that that would include the remaining the largest produce of polution.

At the moment, the technology exists to reduce it a bit, but at a huge cost. Taking the lead and eating those costs for small reductions (and they will be small) will only put America behind economically while others move ahead. Some complain about poverty in America today (when by comparison to other countries doesn't really exist), but that will only increase with rapid transfer of technology that is now ineffecient to begin with. Imake my living in industrial engineering and know that conversion will be slow, though it is happening. To accelerate it would be devastating to industry over the short term and possibly collapse it over the long term.

"The world is not where it should be."

Define, in historical terms over the life of the earth, exactly where it should be.

"Every nation should be conserving more, and moving to sources that do not output so much greenhouse gas."

That starts at the individual level. Personally, I have reduced my driving from over 12k miles/yr to a bit over 4k. I have cut my utilities use in half over the same period. All the while my costs have gone up. While i have been able to absorb those costs as an individual, industry doesn't work the same way and its cost actually go higher percentage wise than the more it impliments the mandates you want, further increasing consumer costs, and requiring morelayoffs and more output by fewer workers.

"That means improvements for everyone, especially the world's biggest source of those gases"

So far I have seen no no improvement for everyone. That is a myth that no one can quantify. Not even wiki, ;)

As for future loss of life, without a huge decrease in world population, the quality of life will continue to spiral downward regardless of the environment and over population is the cause, in my opinion, of all the negative in the world today.

Trying to save everyone at any cost will be the downfall of humanity. Man, as a whole, seems to be the only species on the planet that hasn't been able to grasp that fact.