Global warming is all too real -- but we are not doomed
Climate politics may have little to do with protecting the environment
Human-caused global warming is scientifically proven. Here are the science academies of the Western world first declaring this in 2005. Here is a smart guy from the Brookings Institution laying out the evidence shortly after the National Academy of Sciences declaration.
A statement about the topic that is incontrovertible: “Human-caused climate change engages real risks. Transition to low-carbon energy production is required across the world.”
Another incontrovertible statement: “Greenhouse emissions have been declining in the United States for almost 20 years, including under Donald Trump. This shows greenhouse emissions can decline anywhere.”
Another: “Renewable energy is important, but a commitment to atomic power is needed to shift the 21st century energy economy away from carbon without causing immiseration in developing countries while lowering living standards everywhere else.”
No serious person could disagree with any of the statements above.
But increasingly the climate change debate is not serious, rather, driven by the self-interest of political, economic and media factions that benefit when they distort the issue.
All this is on display at the climate talks taking place in the UAE, where world leaders, NGOs and pundits are competing to see who can say the most extreme things, usually reflecting their self-interests not the necessities of environmental protection.
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