Long Problems

Climate change is a massive problem, with past emissions affecting our present lives and our actions today having consequences far, far into the future. And yet, modern-day climate policy prioritizes our immediate needs without much thought for the future. Why are we allowing this to happen? In Long Problems (Princeton University Press) Hale explores human inaction on climate change and other “long problems.” He explains why our institutions struggle so much to form and act upon long-term goals and why it is so difficult to act until the effects of a problem like climate change are already felt. In the same way that globalization broadened our understanding of problems to an international mindset, Hale concludes that it is necessary to start “lengthening” these problems temporally, too. Beginning to think about problems on a greater timescale is the first step in the right direction, and Long Problems offers these necessary solutions and insights.