... or if they don't then WE don't either.
Everyone has an equal right to the world's resources, but patently there are not enough to go round. So they have to be rationed.
Whether you ration through a permit system, or by an economic system, it's still rationing.
And to avoid social disharmony and eventual fracturing of the "system", then restraint in consumption has to be built in somewhere.
If you ever see a situation where if "They" were to live as rich and consuming lives as we do, that it would lead to disaster, then it means that we ALREADY are living an unsustainable lifestyle. Only if there is a clear and widely approved mechanism for limiting "excessive" consumption to a relatively small fraction of the population, only then is it sustainable.
All other alternatives lead to one or another of the classical Four Horsemen.
IMHO...
Space/Science » in reply to Scientists say we should abandon Kyoto
Personally, I think they DO have the right to use that technology...