I believe typical bright green environmentalism is not radical enough. Given the technology, humans will choose to melt the ice at the poles for the vast tracts of land and sea it will make available, and simply deal with the consequences of sea level rise. I know it’s blasphemy to say so, but the average global temperature really is way too cold, and most of Canada and Russia are just plain uninhabitable as a result. The world population is so small right now that we barely even notice. As I’ve argued before, the world can contain at least a hundred billion people, probably many more. To green the planet, we have to melt the ice and cultivate the deserts.

I want to see the bright green movement get even brighter. Don’t be afraid of complete human transformation of the biosphere. In the long term (or short term with the right technologies), it’s inevitable — the only question is whether we can do it in a way that takes the rest of the planet’s biodiversity along with us. Technological development and environmentalism are not incompatible. In fact, environmentalists must embrace radical technological development or become obsolete.