I have been reading A Farewell to Alms - Brief History of Economics [1]. Largely answers questions around why Industrial revolution happened when it did despite all the institutions existing well before that.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Farewell-Alms-Economic-History-Prince...

>You don’t get to keep your wasteful jet-setting, SUV-driving, car-culture-oriented consumer lifestyle

I don't have that lifestyle, but the people telling me the world is going to end because of CO2 so I am evil for eating meat do though. Funny how that works.

>it is the obligation of wealthy countries to radically curtail their own use of fossil fuels

No it isn't. Why would we be responsible for the failures of others?

>This technology must then be exported to poorer countries on a free or subsidized basis.

We did not create their low standard of living, we are under no obligation to try to create a high standard of living for them, while being attacked for it. Africa could have a perfectly reasonable standard of living if they did not reproduce out of control, consuming all gains via increased population. There's a good book that discusses why "charity" and "aid" can not and will not ever fix the problems of the "developing" world:

https://www.amazon.com/Farewell-Alms-Economic-History-Prince...

Oops. I linked to some other book with a similar name. This is the correct book: https://www.amazon.com/Farewell-Alms-Economic-History-Prince...

This sort of cultural heritability is the foundation of the thesis of A Farewell to Alms (http://www.amazon.com/Farewell-Alms-Economic-History-Princet... ... which I should really get around to reading).

Actually, that change took place well before the introduction of reliable birth control. See "A Farewell To Alms" for an account of the transition from resource-limited birth rates to the modern world: http://www.amazon.com/Farewell-Alms-Economic-History-Princet...