Yes, the problems are complex and thus the solutions will be complex. I am not optimistic either but workable solutions need to be proposed.

You are right if we just paid the oil companies to stop pumping it would be a disaster.

We would have to put in place production and price controls. We would control the production of green house gases by controlling supply and demand (by rationing), gradually reducing supply and demand to almost nothing as the need for oil goes away, as substitutes are more widely adopted. We control the price so that we don't cause inflation and we make up the profit difference with payments to oil companies so the policy will have the necessary support to get approved. Eventually when we don't need hardly any fossil fuels anymore the payments to oil companies can end.

Actually we could do this by just rationing carbon and forget all that complexity but too many rich interest would be hurt by carbon rationing so that will never be approved. We are going to have to bribe the rich.

TEK