The emissions shift will require technologies that break the carbonlink to energy consumption with as little sacrifice of price and convenience as possible.
His hockey stick, which purported to demonstrate the link between man-made carbon emissions and catastrophic global warming, was the central pillar of the IPCC's 2001 Third Assessment Report, and it brought him near-legendary status in his community.
More controversially, Dr Epstein proposes a link between an increase in emissions of carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas, and the rise of asthma.
In Australia, Tony Abbott, the opposition leader, had already vowed to repeal a government policy to introduce a carbon market in 2015 -- which would eventually link to the EU market -- if his Liberal National coalition wins the federal election in September.