Some solution thoughts ...

My friend,

I know what a perfect world looks like in my head.  Everyone is happy (except for a few burn-stuff-for-energy billionaires).  I envision solutions as a hobby.  So, for fun, I approached each of your points.  I skipped the stuff that seemed more speculation.  I have theories too but didn't get much into them here ...

I was just reading yesterday that the Chinese Premier has announced a war on smog.  The Chinese produce more renewables than Us.  The country banned plastic bags in two weeks.  Our country started that effort years ago and it is still working through the states (I don't care either way).  As we are slower to implement change, we require a head start.  China's coming around faster than we are.  

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-05/china-to-declare-war-on-pollution-as-smog-spreads-across-country.html

China's one child per family has not been ended, it has been eased.  Be careful with statements like that.  

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/28/world/asia/china-one-child-policy-official/

The 'we should pollute cause they do' is paramount in my mind to 'we should beat our children cause the neighbor does'.  Doing the right thing is not an economic choice, it is just something you do.  I would argue (with many economists) that full infrastructure change to renewables would create an economic boom besides allowing Us to climb back on top of the renewable industry.  Fun for the country to have a challenge, take our attention back off what Britney Spears is doing.  

'Wind up working for them...'   yes, we already do as most of our stuff comes from there.  If we put an 'Actual Cost' tax on China imports, it would end China and create clean jobs and industry here.   If we created our own energy (yes, I include natural gas as a transition fuel) than we end the middle east.  They go back to riding camels and throwing rocks.  A portion of every dollar we spend on gas goes to fund terrorism.  

I'm not a scientist but when 97% of climate scientists concur that global warming has a human caused contingent, I take is as fact and move on.  

"Electric cars could shift pollution to the power plant, which is much easier to clean up than individual engines. Just the switch to natural gas from coal is 70% cleaner."

Absolutely.  

We've never been a country that just layed down in front of a challenge until now.  And it's ok, all great empires crumble, overpowered by greed and laziness.  We just didn't last as long as most.  

An 'Actual Cost' on air travel would all but kill my business but I am for it.  Actual Cost meaning customers pay for the environmental damage they are causing in the future.  I'm for a very limited government.  My government has one job, to protect me on a basic level.  No one should be allowed to profit off of polluting the air I breath.  

You hear the population reason to keep polluting at home a lot.  It's not happening.  My personal belief is that it is a matter of time before a superbug halves us.  But a lot of folks who look at this stuff think population will decrease anyway ...

"...estimates for the year 2150 range between 3.2 and 24.8 billion;^[12] independent mathematical modeling supports the lower estimate."

Thats from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population

I feel like it's a problem that solves itself.  Disease (and sterility) always follow overpopulation.  

The only solution to flights I can imagine, is to switch to hydrogen (burning it makes water but we're not there yet) or derigibles.  Yep, blimp travel is not going to go over well with most people.  I would enjoy it as I (and most people) can work from anywhere there is internet.  I just leave (way) early for my trips :).  

Trains are a good way to go.  Electricity storage is getting better.  They say 100 square miles of solar would produce enough electricity for the US.  Add wind, geo, wave etc and a good storage system and smarter grid and you are 100% renewable.  I would like to see personal electric vehicles (your own color but all the same shape) cruising around autonomously even linking up on highways for better efficiency.  Induction charging under roads and batteries for roads without.  Those cars could pick up kids at school etc.  

UPS picks up packages at homes, we handed a box to Ups Friday.  Saved me a trip.  And check this out ... or not, it just talks about Ups getting into electric delivery trucks.  If that happens, those of us that are green will stop using Fedex until they upgrade.  See how it works?  

http://www.pressroom.ups.com/Press+Releases/Archive/2013/Q1/UPS+to+Rollout+Fleet+of+Electric+Vehicles+in+California

That Obama article about EPA restriction was from 2011.  I wonder if that eventually happened.  

I agree that we should be making all of our own renewable gear at home - that's a win win.  

So I hear it a lot from the older set (slightly older than me) that it's someone elses problem.  I think that's fine.  But I, not being highly motivate to spend my spare time on income generation, have too much time on my hands to sit idle.   Thinking up and researching answers to problems is fun for me.  

If the world can live a higher quality life by being on 100% renewables, than that seems like a no-brainer to me.  But I understand your point, that 'it's never going to happen'.   Good stuff aint always easy.