Addressing the problem of climate change requires reducing emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels, which in turn involves choices in technology, some of which already exists and much of which needs to be developed. For example, coal plants, if they are to remain a major part of the energy mix, will need to capture and store their CO2, a process called “carbon capture and sequestration,” or CCS for short.
上述两个问题虽然都跟国家利益最大化有关，但却有着天渊之别。事实上，解决气候变化问题需要减少燃烧化石燃料所排放的二氧化碳，但这反过来又涉及到相关技术的选择问题，虽然其中一些技术已经成熟，但还有一大部分仍有待发展。举例来说，如果那些燃煤发电厂希望自己能继续作为能源供给结构的重要组成部分存在的话，那么就要应用捕获并储存二氧化碳的技术，这个技术过程被称为“碳捕捉和封存”（简称CCS），但却还未经研究证明有效。