...if political activism is pointless and 'greening your lifestyle' is tokenistic and sends the wrong message about how the climate change problem will ultimately be addressed, what options are left for concerned citizens? What's the most meaningful thing an individual can do to tackle climate change?
Based on the presentation below, I think Bill Gates' answer would be that grassroots political pressure is not pointless, but it needs to be properly directed. And foremost, that means pressuring governments to fund research toward what Gates calls 'energy miracles'.