So … we “need” energy-efficient traffic lights to ward off global warming (“we” are apparently so deplorably stupid as to think choice in light bulbs makes a measurable difference in the global climate). We need to ward off global warming because otherwise children will be harmed, three centuries from now ? and nobody wants to harm children, not even hypothetical ones centuries hence.
If you’re thinking this setup is fraught with dangerous unintended consequences, well, you’re right. The energy-efficient traffic lights can’t even melt the ice forming on them, leading to traffic accidents and people ? real, present-day people, including real, present-day children ? are being hurt or killed.
