"... as big a carbon footprint as the West ..."  Do we know that?  Per captia - wise, it was probably bigger - especially if we factor in relative productivities of the societies in question.  :-/

And when we get right down to it, I'll bet that both you and Naomi Klein would rather have a little extra CO2 in the backyard than you would plutonium, or a fishpond full of dissolved arsenic.  ;-)

"... Capitalism has a lot to answer for ..."  No human-devised system is perfect, of course, and we'll agree that in a pluralistic society judicious checks and balances are a real good idea.  But before anyone criticizes the capitalist market economy too severely, Will, they ought to (at the very least) point to an alternative that could have produced anywhere near the widespread material wealth, high tech, educational opportunity, and general personal freedom enjoyed thereby.