"We’re the first generation to experience the climate crisis,
and we’re the last that can do anything about it." (President Barack Obama - 2015).
That was almost ten years ago, and since then we've only done more nothing about ameliorating the threat. Twenty-eight years of intra-governmental climate negotiations have failed. Our delaying has cost us dearly; we've passed several important tipping points, from which there is no going back. The poles will melt, the seas will rise, dozens of cities will sink under the waves, millions of people will be displaced. There will be famines, floods and droughts. But it could get a whole lot worse if we let it. Will we?
Oblivious to the growing threat, he US is doing quite well - stock market, employment, receding inflation and recession, and no major wars. We are pumping and selling more oil than we need to a world hungry for power. We are installing record numbers of wind turbines and solar arrays, though most of our energy still comes from hydrocarbons.
The world added 43 billion tons of CO2 to the atmosphere in 2023, and will add even more this year. All of that and more must be removed and sequestered to stop global warming. The earth and oceans are saturated from 150 years of ever increasing emissions. Over 70% of Americans believe climate change will harm plants, animals and future generations of humans. That percentage is steadily growing. In time even Charles Koch, Trump and other climate change deniers will accept the obvious. Meanwhile, as time passes, our options become fewer, more expensive and more difficult.
America saved the world once, when the Axis powers tried to enslave humanity. America made a massive, concerted effort. The war cost trillions in today’s dollars; 85% of the country’s citizens actively participated. I still swell with pride knowing the sacrifices American troops made to save humanity, my parents among them.
It is time to repeat this tremendous effort. The world needs to be saved again, not from fascism, but from extinction. Every year storms increase 3-5% in number and intensity, our ships must weather gale force winds and 60 foot waves. We lose $hundreds of billions every year to hurricanes and tornadoes, more each year. This will continue indefinitely until we remove the excessive greenhouse gases, or they remove us.
President Biden recently pushed through a bill providing $hundreds of billions to address climate change. It was an important first step, a bipartisan miracle, but it is very late and not nearly enough to stop many unwelcome climate changes. Sadly, the war to save earth from the poison we are spewing into the air and the oceans will require tens of trillions of dollars. An almost incalculable amount but surely preferable to our extinction. And note that big oil and gas took in $28 trillion last year alone.
No other nation is in a position to undertake such an ambitious project. It is up to us. After all, the United States is the largest consumer of oil and gas per capita in the world. we exported plastics and petroleum related technology throughout the world. American companies lied about the long-term effects. It is fair, and even if you think it is not fair, bear in mind that we all share the same atmosphere. When everyone dies, Americans die too.
How long can the 1% stay in their opulent underground safe houses when the world is burning? Runaway greenhouse effect means the temperature increases until the oceans evaporate.