The choices we make

Abstract

I remember walking through the factory on cold mornings and noticing that the fume in the air would seem to hang more heavily. The shutter doors would be closed, reducing drafts and exposure to a cold wind, but also reducing natural ventilation. On hot days in summer, the opposite was true. Doors kept open to capture every passing breeze and workers stripped down to the minimum of clothing, potentially reducing their protection. Temperature changes can be uncomfortable, sometimes even unbearable. They force us to act, and sometimes to take actions that provide short-term relief at the cost of potential long-term harm. This winter, with gas prices soaring to unprecedented levels, there has been a clamour in certain quarters to look again at shale gas, as well as rumours of political interference in the approval process of North Sea oil and gas fields. With tensions in Eastern Europe looking set to...