why the government must legislate to mitigate the effects of anthropogenic climate change

A DEFRA survey demonstrates why climate change cannot be addressed through individual action alone, in this country any way. 25% of the population remain in denial of the truth, despite the vast amount of information available to them which demonstrates that anthropogenically induced climate change is occurring and will have a significant impact upon our lives in 10 years or so. This is a violation of one of the most fundamental principles of human society as the people who will suffer from the selfish behaviour of the few are exactly those people who are also denied the decadent lifestyle that is resulting in climate chaos.

As a quarter of the population cannot be trusted to behave responsibly it is pointless relying on the efforts of the other 75% as any progress made through their efforts will be swamped by the actions of the selfish few who leave television on all night, fly across the country, drive Chelsea tractors everywhere and keep the tap running when they brush their teeth. If these morons can live like this without fear of any ill effects then they will continue to do so. Some people are just wilfully evil.

Therefore, if the population are engaging in damaging patterns of behaviour, it is the government 's responsibility to act to discourage such behaviour through eco-taxes and carbon rationing. So why isn't it?