Two Mega-Greenhouse Gas Producers in a Hate-filled Common Cause

 

“As President Biden [headed] to Glasgow, Scotland, for a global summit on climate change, the Supreme Court announced [on October 29th] that it will hear an appeal from West Virginia and 18 other coal-producing states that seeks to block environmental regulators from limiting carbon pollution spewing from power plants… In February 2016, a week before Justice Antonin Scalia died, the court issued a 5-4 order that stopped President Obama’s Clean Power Plan from taking effect. That measure would have forced broad changes at power plants and required many to switch from using coal… The court’s intervention was unusual because the administration has yet to issue any such regulations. But the coalition of conservative states said the court should act now to prevent new regulations that could ‘force dramatic changes in how and where electricity is produced.’” Los Angeles Times, October 30th.

That just the United States! America the beautiful. Reality: China is the world’s biggest aggregate emitter of greenhouse gasses; the United States is the biggest per capita producer of those same emissions. “China has long argued that it is a developing country and should not have to adhere to the emissions cuts expected of the West, which is responsible for most of the world’s pollution historically — a posture echoed by India. On a per capita basis, the U.S. pollutes twice as much as China and 8.5 times as much as India… 

“The European Union aims to reduce carbon pollutants to 51% below 2005 levels — they are currently at 29% — but the continued influence of industry has impeded faster change… Prominent environmental activists such as Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg have accused European leaders and major corporations of exaggerating their environmental commitments… The accusation has particular resonance in Germany, Europe’s largest economy. Despite billing itself as a green leader, the country remains a major user of coal. And in a burgeoning era of electric vehicles, car emissions there rose 6% over the last decade — a reflection of the powerful auto lobby that has blocked calls to impose speed limits on the nation’s famed Autobahn.” Los Angeles Times, October 30th. 

Brazil is still burning its rainforests to create farmland and access to mining opportunities. Pictured above. “The problem has worsened significantly under Bolsonaro, a right-wing populist who took power in 2019 and immediately began to loosen environmental regulations… He and many of his supporters have embraced a provocative argument: If you want us to stop deforesting the Amazon, pay us… His former environmental minister, Ricardo Salles — ousted earlier this year over his alleged links to illegal timber smuggling — said the country could lower deforestation by up to 40% if it received $1 billion in foreign aid… Hamilton Mourao, Brazil’s vice president, told journalists… that the delegation in Glasgow will pursue a similar demand.” LA Times (10/30).

In short, the global approach to climate change remains way too little, way too late. For virtually the entire planet, the sustained and accelerating death and destruction from climate change-related realities vastly eclipse the relatively shorter-term impact of the COVID pandemic, yet the governmental resources committed to counter climate change are proportionately so much less.

The two largest polluters in the world, China and the United States, are at diplomatic (and perhaps military) loggerheads, the worst in decades. That schism has had a material negative impact on addressing the climate problem. If China and the United States do not get together on major climate change abatement efforts, the resulting natural disaster horribles may well escalate even more quickly than we are currently experiencing. Noting in particular that hostility between these major polluters, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has predicted that the world was “racing toward the threshold of catastrophe” and facing “a code-red for humanity.” 

Writing for the October 28th Los Angeles Times, Chris Megerian and Alice Su tell us “like it is”: Six years ago, an unprecedented level of cooperation between the United States and China laid the groundwork for the Paris climate accord, a milestone in the fight against global warming: “But as final preparations [were] made for back-to-back international summits [in the final days of October], that partnership has frayed. Dialogue between the two superpowers has been overshadowed by friction over trade, accusations of human rights violations and security issues — not to mention the domestic political and economic challenges both countries face that make working together more difficult.” President Biden attended the two back-to-back meetings – Group of 20 forum for world leaders in Rome and the United Nations conference on climate change in Glasgow, Scotland – in person, while China’s Xi Jinping participated virtually, effectively stymying a potential face-to-face side-bar meeting of these two world leaders in an effort to diffuse tensions.

“Some experts and policymakers worry that the tension between them will jeopardize progress on climate change at a time when the catastrophic effects of rising temperatures are becoming clearer than ever. Others observe that Beijing has demonstrated a willingness to act independently of U.S. coordination, and they hope that competition between the two powers could be a positive ‘race to the top,’ as each strives to outperform the other on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“What’s clear, however, is that the dynamic between the U.S. and China has shifted dramatically in the last several years. ‘We are fundamentally in a very different era,’ said Thom Woodroofe, a fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute and former climate diplomat… Before the Paris summit in 2015, Woodroofe said, negotiations between Washington and Beijing produced a joint announcement that was an ‘absolute game changer.’ It signaled that China was ready to reach a deal for the first time, he said, which had a cascading effect, giving other countries confidence progress could be made.

“This time around, Beijing has unrolled a series of climate announcements that appear timed to avoid seeming as if China is making changes because of U.S. pressure. Although diplomats from both countries remain in close touch, the question is whether they can spur the rest of the world to increase its ambitions without a united front of their own… ‘There’s no solution to climate without the U.S. and China moving in the same direction,’ said Nathaniel Keohane, president of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.” 

To make matters worse, the cavalier Trump-era abandonment of climate change countermeasures and treaties has created a serious lack of global trust in the bona fides of American commitments, even as alarm bells are ringing: “Biden wants the U.S. to slash emissions to between 50% and 52% below 2005 levels by 2030, but he’s struggling to enact laws that can fulfill his pledges… Many Chinese observers are skeptical about whether the U.S. can follow through, especially after watching former President Trump abandon the climate fight, said Li Shuo, senior climate and energy policy officer at Greenpeace China… ‘The U.S. does not carry a lot of credibility, and it is not a temporary problem,’ Li said. ‘It is systemic.’” LA Times (10/28). China is hardly alone in that fear.

“Right now, neither country is doing enough to help meet the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Although China is a leading deployer of solar and wind power and electric vehicles, it’s the world’s top source of greenhouse gases and its biggest coal consumer… Xi announced last year that China would reach carbon neutrality by 2060, but the country doesn’t plan to stop reducing emissions until 2030. He announced only last month that his government would stop financing coal-fired power plants around the world.” LA Times (10/28).

So, what really will the Glasgow climate summit accomplish? I’m not expecting much, although this just may be the last great moment for the world to wake up and understand that nature does not give a rat’s posterior about political or economic issues. Remember, our consumer-driven economy makes the United States the greatest per capita polluter on earth. Read the above quote at the top of this blog again and realize a. that there is no such thing as “clean coal” and b. we do not even begin to tackle global warming until coal is banned from our industrial/power generating capacity… everywhere. Stay tuned for my report on the result of the Glasgow climate summit.

I’m Peter Dekom, and I do not believe that most Americans realize that we are the second worst greenhouse gas emitter (and the absolute worst per capita emitter) on earth.