The Tragedy of the Atmospheric Commons: Discounting Future Costs and Risks in Pursuit of Immediate Fossil‐Fuel Benefits

One of the most significant positive approaches to the politics of climate change on the scale required by the problem is that of Giddens. This paper uncovers weaknesses in his argument and reveals motivational divergence for mitigation and energy security in both Canada and New Zealand, which is opposite to what occurred in Northern Europe that provided the basis for his analysis. This suggests that the response to climate change varies according to deeper cultural and geophysical structures. The paper also examines cost(risk)‐benefit analysis versus the precautionary principle, the directionality of political‐economic convergence with mitigation, and political partisanship concerning climate change. It documents the complexity of making near‐term economic opportunities converge with mitigation of distant harm.