Global warming and "If everyone just does something"

[revots33]

OK so I'm pretty much on the side of those who think global warming is real, it is being caused by human activity, and will likely cause some pretty big problems down the road. I am on this side because most reputable scientists I've heard seem to agree on this. I don't know much about the science myself, so I'm taking their word for it.

Anyway that's not really the point. My point is with the notion that individuals can do much of anything about it. There are over 6.6 billion people on the planet. Many come from developing countries where poverty and disease are much bigger problems than global warming. George Will wrote a good column about this in Newsweek recently (link).

So the idea that, if I switch from regular bulbs to flourescent, or buy a Prius, I will be doing "something" about global warming seems shaky to me. It seems to me I might be making myself feel good about myself, and maybe allowing myself to feel superior to others - but there is no way in hell that I expect my new light bulbs to start cooling the earth.

Am i being too negative/defeatist? Basically what I'm trying to say is that we should all just live our lives and hope either a)global warming isn't as bad as advertised or b)technology creates a way out of the mess (inventing some completely renewable clean energy source for example). Because my switching to new light bulbs isn't going to solve global warming. And the idea that "well if everyone does it" is pointless, since everyone won't and we all know it.