Just to move the discussion out of comments and into the main page. Regarding the argument that "The risk of overestimating climate change can hurt lots of people, who may be made waste resources on installing yet inefficient solar panels, give up cars, or live in crumpled apartments."
Wasting resources is bad- but cars and crumpled (did you mean cramped) apartments are inconveniences, not life threatening conditions. Besides, technology never advances without some original waste of resources- that's why the price of electronics comes down so fast after initial introduction to the market.
Mephistopheles mentioned an article he read about how to make hybrid cars super efficient (to the point where only a tank of gas would be needed per month) by using super-efficient batteries that actually store electricity for the power companies during off peak hours. (I'll see if I can get him to post the link- since I'm just spouting his regurgitation of the article)
If we couple that kind of battery efficiency with a switch from petroleum gas to biodiesel made from switch grass (and stopped subsidizing ethanol and the corn farmers) we end up with a system that is better for the environment and massively decreases our dependence on foreign oil. Sounds like a win all around though there is an initial cost in investment to make switch grass refining more efficient.
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