World needs to join fight against climate change

I think activists fighting to slow the impacts of climate change put too much energy into the wrong issues. Many seem focused on the idea that the problem is ever more urgent to address within the U.S. Too many remain strangely silent about the issues in the rest of the world.

The United States is doing its part to mitigate climate change. America has steadily reduced emissions nearly 20% since the mid-2000s. This was achieved without joining the Kyoto Protocol, withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accords and without any sweeping climate legislation.

The U.S. has just over 13% of global emissions today, down from 25% in 2003. Even if it could completely eliminate all emissions, the global issue of climate change would not even be close to being addressed, let alone solved.

A month ago, India's government announced intentions to double their number of coal-fired power plants by 2030. This is in addition to India increasing greenhouse emissions by 15% to 20% per year over the last decade.

China's meteoric rise in emissions is even more prolific. China's emissions were on par with the U.S. in the mid-2000s when the U.S. hit its emissions peak. While the U.S. has reduced its emissions nearly 20% since, China's have more than doubled, with no signs of slowing.

Climate activists at the higher levels should refocus their efforts on the issues above that are real and growing threats to the global climate. If their mission is to do the most good, they should reexamine their priorities.

— Marcus Gerstein,

Corte Madera