You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build anew model that make the existing model obsolete. – R. Buckminster Fuller
Here’s the existing reality 
If global warming (Figure 1b) looks like:
- billions of people
- making billions of energy decisions every day
- to pour carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere (Figure 1a)
then reversing global warming might look like:
- groups of decision-makers throughout the whole of human society
- swiftly making consensus decisions and swiftly acting on those decisions
- to adopt renewable energy options that avoid pouring greenhouse gases into the atmosphere
Do decision-makers have renewable energy options to reverse global warming? Yes, absolutely. In Drawdown(2017) , a team of researchers, led by Paul Hawken, identified 55 categories of renewable energy options that – if adopted by decision-makers over the next 30 years:
- would avoid more than 375 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions, and
- would create almost $65 trillion of economic wealth.
Drawdown shows that decision-makers have available to them now — today — renewable energy options that avoid greenhouse gas emissions, that reverse global warming and that create economic wealth.
If decision-makers have renewable energy options to reverse global warming (and create trillions of economic wealth), what’s stopping decision-makers from adopting those options at a scale and speed needed to reverse global warming?
Right now, virtually all of the decision-makers who I know (and I know many hundreds of decision-makers) are not yet aware that they have an option of creating a decision-making process that puts them on an unlimited upside of reversing global warming and creating economic wealth.
Specifically, they are not aware yet that they have an option of creating such a decision-making process that delivers greatest economic wealth and greatest avoided greenhouse gas emissions to reverse global warming.
Without such a decision-making process, decision-makers (and everyone else in the world) might be said to be stuck on a “detriment curve” – and unlimited downside — of:
- accelerating & unlimited greenhouse gas emissions,
- celerating & unlimited global warming, and
- accelerating & unlimited economic costs of adapting to global warming,
as shown in Figure 2: 
Figure 2 shows that – without a decision-making process for swiftly adopting renewable energy options and reversing global warming – humanity and the rest of the planet are literally toast.
Decision-makers might be said to be stuck on the “unlimited downside” shown in Figure 2 because they are not yet aware that they have an option of creating a decision-making process for swiftly adopting renewable energy options, reversing global warming and creating economic wealth.
When decision-makers invest in a decision-making process for swiftly adopting renewable energy options, they shift themselves – and all the rest of us – to a “benefit curve” – and unlimited upside — of:
- accelerating & unlimited economic benefits (economic wealth)
- accelerating & unlimited environmental preservation benefits (avoided greenhouse gas emissions), and
- arresting & reversing global warming
as shown in Figure 3 
Figure 3 shows the unlimited upside when decision-makers invest in such a decision-making process because such an investment has a tiny downside (the time and incurred economic costs needed to create such a process) and an unlimited upside(accelerating & unlimited economic wealth and environmental preservation benefits, including arresting & reversing global warming).
The Drawdown team showed that – using renewable energy options that are available for adoption right now — the green “upside” area shown in Figure 3 has a value of more than 375 gigatons of avoided greenhouse gas emissions and almost $65 trillion of economic wealth.
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This is what Buckminster Fuller was talking about when he said, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
Figure 2 shows the existing reality of the existing decision-making model: decision- makers and the rest of us stuck on an unlimited downside because decision-makers are not yet aware that they have an option of building a decision-making model for swiftly adopting renewable energy options and reversing global warming.
Figure 3 shows the changed reality when decision-makers build a new decision-making model, like the process shown in my book, You Can Reverse Global Warming.
The new decision-making model changes the existing reality – and makes the existing decision-making model obsolete — by shifting decision-makers from an unlimited downside (Figure 2) to an unlimited upside (Figure 3).
Which future do you want? Do you want the unlimited downside shown in Figure 2? Or do you want the unlimited upside shown in Figure 3? It’s your decision.
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Wondering how you might create a decision-making process that shifts decision-makers to the unlimited upside shown in Figure 3?
My new book, You Can Reverse Global Warming, shows you how.
For a limited time, you can download a complimentary advance copy of You Can Reverse Global Warming at my website, www.erikkvam.com
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In the next article in this Reversing Warming Creating Wealth series, I’ll show you how to ask the right questions to reverse global warming.
Thank you for reading this article. I’m always grateful for your comments.
