San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
Desperation on climate change met by trace of hope
Recent scientific studies continue to paint a grim future as the world’s climate changes.
Another in a series of United Nations reports notes that while COVID-19 spread rapidly, the globe experienced an intense hurricane season, increasing wildfires and, according to National Public Radio, animal species dying off “in what some experts believe is a mass species extinction.”
Just last week, Congress took a substantial step toward slowing that trend, passing what has been widely hailed as the most significant climate change policy in at least a decade.
By themselves, the proposals that would cut greenhouse gas emissions by developing more clean power would only make a dent in changing what’s projected for the future.
But the bipartisan support for the measures along with backing from both business and environmental organizations suggest more action is in the offing. Further, analysts say a key component of the package — the phasing out of hydrofluorocarbon coolants used in refrigerators and air conditioners — could signal to the international community that the United States is ready to re-engage in the global fight against climate change.
The sweeping COVID-19 stimulus and government spending bill approved Monday includes $35 billion to promote wind and solar power while over time essentially doing away with hydrofluorocarbons, often referred to as HFCS.
This would have been huge news in another time, but was understandably overshadowed first by approval of the coronavirus relief package, and then by President Donald Trump’s suggestion that he may veto it.
Nevertheless, the universal praise of the climate package reported by several news organizations was a sharp departure from the business vs. environment struggle that for years has characterized the conflict over climate change policy.
“This agreement protects both American consumers and American businesses,” said Sen. John Barrasso, R-wyo., who is chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “We can have clean air without damaging our economy.”
Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, the top Democrat on the committee, said the proposals would create thousands of jobs and help “save our planet from the climate crisis.”
That all may sound too good to be true, but others basically agreed.
Marty Durbin, a senior vice president at the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, said the legislation is “truly historic” and will lead to innovation, economic growth and a better environment.
In addition to expanding clean energy sources, Barrasso said the legislation aims to develop systems to capture and store carbon produced by power plants and phase out hydrofluorocarbons over 15 years. That will give companies time to develop alternative coolants, he added.
According to The New York Times, HFCS are a small percentage of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, compared with carbon dioxide from the fossil fuels that power vehicles, electric plants and factories, but they have 1,000 times the heat-trapping potency of carbon dioxide. International agreements seek to phase out HFCS.
The legislation “will bring significant climate relief relatively quickly,” said Matt Casale, director of environment campaigns for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
The Rhodium Group, a research and consulting firm, concluded the coolant phase-out would be one of the most significant federal policies ever taken to cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Times.
The legislation takes the country in the opposite direction from Trump’s approach, which has been to roll back regulations aimed at reducing harmful emissions.
The vast majority of scientific research suggests drastic action is needed as climate change continues to march forward.
A new study by researchers from Mcgill University in Montreal said the threshold for dangerous global warming will be crossed between 2027 and 2042, according to Science Daily. That’s a narrower window than the estimate by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was between now and 2052.
The U.N. report referenced earlier contends that the planet has entered a new geological age of danger, not just from climate change, but crisis and conflict that force people from their homes, and growing societal inequalities.
“In fact, the pressures we exert on the planet have become so great that scientists are considering whether the Earth has entered an entirely new geological epoch: the Anthropocene, or the age of humans,” wrote Achim Steiner, administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, which issued the report.
“It means that we are the first people to live in an age defined by human choice, in which the dominant risk to our survival is ourselves.”
To paraphrase a famous saying, we have met the enemy and it is us.
Tweet of the Week
Goes to Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw), constitutional law professor, quoting from a Max Boot column in The Washington Post.
“‘Never before in U.S. history has there been a record of a president discussing a military coup to stay in office. In this instance, all that is preserving the Constitution is the military’s fidelity to the rule of law.’”