Leaving the US out of the climate change debate is likely to leave it incomplete. Whether it means being more responsible for greenhouse gas emissions or investing and cooperating to mitigate and adapt to climate change, the US remains at the center of the debate.
However, American society and politics are equally polarized over climate change.
Who is responsible?
Since 1850 alone, 2500 billion tons of carbon dioxide gas has been emitted from human activities. An analysis of Carbon Brief has shown that the US contributes the most (20 percent). It is estimated that US carbon emissions since then have been around 509 giga tons. Other countries with higher carbon emissions are China (11 percent), Russia (7 percent) and Brazil (5 percent).
According to the Harvard Political Review (2020), the most responsible for the world’s greenhouse gas emissions are 100 investors and government-owned petroleum (fossil fuel) producing companies. They are responsible for more than 70 percent of such gas emissions. Out of the total 33 billion tons of carbon dioxide gas produced in the world, 8 metric tons are released from American households.
Despite that, even within the United States, there is a large group that does not believe that greenhouse gas emissions are caused by human activities. Politically, there is a lot of ‘lobbying’ against climate change. Some have been providing financial support secretly. According to Greenpeace.org, the Koch brothers have directly donated $100 million to 84 groups that deny the science of climate change since 1997.
Similarly, those who have interests in petroleum products have spent billions of dollars to spread confusion and denial in the public mind. This has made it difficult for alternative energy to compete in the market. For example, according to material published by the Guardian on March 25, 2015, ExxonMobil spent $16 million between 1998 and 2005 to spread disinformation against climate science. According to another report from the Guardian on 9 October 2019, the petroleum industry and politicians have been warning for half a decade about the climate risks of burning fossil fuels. However, 20 fossil fuel companies have been ignoring it and expanding their production.
Trump vs. Biden
Outgoing US President Donald Trump said during the first election campaign, ‘Climate change is a hoax. I reverse all the initiatives in it.’ Needless to say, within a year of entering the Oval Office, he reversed Obama-era climate change initiatives. Trump withdrew the Paris Agreement saying it was unfair and unfair to the US. He especially worked to reverse most of the factors of climate change and environmental pollution control policies and programs during the Obama era. Withheld financial support from the federal government. He opened up the natural gas extraction that is connected to many lands and waters of the United States.
According to a report by the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI), Trump removed climate-related content from the websites of several government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA suffered the largest budget cut in history ($2.6 billion). The cancellation of dozens of EPA programs alone had a direct impact on the Clean Power Plan, the International Climate Change Program, and climate change research support. Similarly, the budget of the Department of Energy (Ministry of Energy) was also reduced by 1.7 billion dollars. This especially affected the field of research. America has been a leader in global climate change research. According to the research paper ‘The Withdrawal of the US from the Paris Agreement and its Impact on Global Climate Change Governance’, 39 thousand 929 of the 113 thousand 918 research papers on climate change published from 2010 to 2016 were submitted from the US. .
But Joe Biden reversed the Trump-era policy before entering the Oval Office. Reversing the policies and activities of the Trump era calling climate change a ‘hoax’, he called it an ’empirical threat of our time’. According to an article published by the Guardian on February 2, 2021, Biden advocated protecting endangered species and their habitats, protecting land cleared for mining, strengthening air quality and carbon emissions regulations, regulating toxic chemicals based on science, protecting drinking water and waterways, enforcing environmental regulations, and costing the environment. They have abolished the rules and laws that were introduced to give benefits to the industries. Biden issued an executive order announcing the rejoining of the Paris Climate Agreement on the first day of occupying the Oval Office. Apart from that, a large amount has been allocated to fight against the climate.
America is experiencing the effects of climate
During the debate on climate change, the US has been accused of being the country that emits the most greenhouse gases. However, America itself has been suffering from the effects of climate in the last decade.
Powerful storms, fierce fires, droughts, contaminated air and water, heavy rains, hot air, decreasing water levels in rivers and lakes, rising sea levels, etc. are the main effects that America has had to face due to climate change in recent times. Its bad effects have already started to be seen in infrastructure, agriculture, fish business and environment.
Due to the fire, many wild animals and plants have been killed, and there has been a huge economic loss. Studies by the University of California and others have shown that the economic value of the California fires in 2018 alone is 148 billion dollars, which is 0.7 percent of the US GDP at the time. There were 8 thousand 5 fire incidents that year. It was the most destructive fire in history. California itself also had to bear the loss of more than 1 billion dollars.
According to a study by Harvard University, the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions in the world is likely to cause sea level rise and displace 2 billion people. This will cost the American economy billions of dollars. It is estimated that 2.5 million people will die every year before the year 2100 alone.
In a 2020 survey conducted by the Pew Center, most Americans said that the effects of climate change are already being felt in their communities and that the federal government is not doing enough to mitigate the effects of climate change. The survey included participants who subscribed to the ideologies of both the Democrat and Republican parties. Most of the Democrats and more than half of the Republicans expressed the opinion that the government should introduce large-scale tree planting, tax breaks for enterprises and businesses that reduce carbon emissions, and stricter fuel efficiency standards for vehicles.
‘Net Zero’ and Political Cooperation
The US is aiming to make electricity 100% carbon pollution-free by 2035. Biden has launched a ‘Net Zero’ campaign with the goal of reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2050.
In the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill recently passed by Congress, the United States has allocated the largest amount of money to fight climate change. Of this, $150 billion has been earmarked for clean energy development and climate change mitigation. This package includes $73 billion for the modernization of US transmission lines. This will help in transmission of electricity produced by wind and solar energy, especially in densely populated areas. Currently, about 40 percent of carbon pollution is caused by power plants that use petroleum fuel. To replace it, it is necessary to bring renewable energy such as wind and solar energy into the mainstream and make it accessible and usable for everyone.
According to the National Climate Assessment Report, many cities and states have recently begun to include climate change in their plans. For example, Ithaca in New York State has joined the district network with the goal of becoming New York’s first carbon-free city by 2030. This model is working together with households and industry-businesses to improve urban sustainability by reducing traditional energy use, reducing water and reducing gas emissions from transportation by 50 percent by 2030.
Political cooperation
Such ambitious plans succeed only when the Republicans also support them. Otherwise, the game of one bringing and the other reversing continues. Still, many Republicans seem skeptical about climate change. It is not a good thing for the world that the program brought by the Democrat president will be reversed by the Republican president or that the program brought by the Republicans will be canceled by the Democrats. Climate change is not a lie but a reality. It is necessary to inculcate the belief in the public that climate change is the result of human activities and that it has an increasing impact. To deal with it, it is necessary to come up with a long-term project by making an agreement at the political level. Only then will the investments in this area be sustainable. In order for America to build its credibility in the world, there is a need for cooperation between its two parties. Climate impacts will affect all Americans and Earthlings, regardless of Republican or Democrat. If not the earth, where and on whom will politics be done?
Discussion about this post