We choose to buy suburban homes with large gardens. We choose to buy gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs. We choose to fly thousands of miles for a week-long holiday. We vote for municipal governments that choose low-density zoning laws. We vote for politicians that promise cheap gas and disparage public transit.
We all have some responsibility to bear for this issue.
You can't think of another option? Then do nothing, but I'm sure everyone else will think the same and nothing will change until things will start to collapse. At that time, we'll all wonder why we didn't try harder earlier.
I agree with you about the dilemmas but, personally, I believe it's time to recognize that our current economic system refuse to admit that there are hard limits to growths so I'm doing my best to disrupt it. I'm not pushing others to do the same, I'm just answering your question.
1. Buy an electric car. Live in a smaller home. Consume fewer material goods. Set your heat cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Do what you can and actually put your money and lifestyle where your mouth is.
The electric car will cost more than your gasoline powered car. You will be uncomfortable. Depending on your viewpoints about stoicism and hedonic adaptation, this won't actually be so bad. However, you will be actionably pulling society in the direction of living in a sustainable way.
2. Decide that you do not care about global warming. Either deny its existence, come to the conclusion that the net effects on planet earth will not be severe enough to be worth the cost to prevent it, or come to the conclusion that it is an unsolvable collective action problem.
Shaking your fist is virtue signalling. Do something.
Better: move to a city, sell your car and buy bikes for your family. Live in a flat.
Edit: as a comment to tw04's reply, do you really believe that the owners and banks of fracking companies choose to ignore changes in demand when investing in decades' long projects? If so, you should just fight capitalism because it would be the most stupid system of capital allocation one can think of.
Literally none of that will stop the immediate threat of fracking injecting chemicals into our drinking water. Which is the discussion.
In fact, fracking will have done all of its damage long before ANY of those things will cause a change in behavior by the companies doing it.
Buying an electric car will contribute on the margin to stopping fracking due to less gasoline consumption. It is action rather than yelling and virtue signalling.
What are "our" options? As far as I can tell my option is to lose my job entirely by not buying any gasoline at the pump in protest. Or write my local senator/congressman who has little control or care.
It's not like there is a "shale oil" pump vs. a non shale oil pump at the local gas station. And asking the majority of the population to pick up and move close to their work (and then hope they have that job for eternity) doesn't really seem like a reasonable solution either.
I think it's entirely reasonable to lay the blame at the feet of the people actually doing it. Just like when the CIA was torturing Iraqi's it was entirely reasonable to lay the blame for torture at their feet vs. copping out by saying "the whole country is to blame".