U.S. can’t stop climate change on its own
President Biden has selected 2005 as the base date for carbon emissions. The following is carbon emissions data by the International Energy Agency from 2005-20 in millions of tons.
| 2005 | 2020 | change | |
| World | 30,049 | 36,300 | +20% |
| China | 6,263 | 11,689 | +85% |
| U.S. | 5,971 | 4,535 | -24% |
| India | 1,210 | 2,411 | +100% |
| Japan | 1,276 | 1,071 | -17% |
So all of the worldwide carbon increase was created by China and India.
From 2019-21 China increased its CO2 emissions by 750 million tons while the rest of the world decreased theirs by 650 million tons — the U.S. by a world leading 24%. So the U.S. can’t possibly offset China’s continued increases.
According to the EPA, the average U.S. passenger car emits 4.6 tons of carbon a year — an SUV, 25% higher — and altogether U.S. passenger cars emit 617.7 million tons of carbon a year. So if the U.S. followed Biden’s wish and eliminated all gas-powered vehicles last year, the U.S. still would not have offset China’s 750 million ton increase from 2019-21.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s absence at the failed Glasgow Climate Conference drew criticism from Presidents Biden and Obama, who attended the conference in person. Note that at the signing of the 2015 Paris accord, China agreed to “peak” its carbon emissions by 2030.
It appears that China is willing to sacrifice the climate for their economy while the U.S. is willing to sacrifice its economy for the climate.
When my friends ask me what I’m doing for the climate, I tell them I try not to buy products from China and I send a letter to President Biden every other month asking that he place a carbon tax on all goods coming into the U.S. from China. But I doubt it will help.
Dennis Poluga
Morgantown
Hope gun control efforts work this time
At the risk of being labeled anti-Second Amendment, I hope the sheer magnitude of what happened in Uvalde, Texas, produces some gun legislation this time. Almost any steps taken would be better than none at all.
I hope the two major political parties can see that a vast majority of the American public favors some actions and politicians will put away their petty bickering with each other and take some positive steps to tighten the gun control laws.
The stakes are too high and too many students have already died or been forever traumatized by the mass shootings at schools. There are far too many delusional people who misguidedly believe replacement (conspiracy) theory is happening in this country and the only way to stop it is to take an AR-15 and start killing people. (Why a true hunter needs an AR-15 is beyond my comprehension. The same goes for mags that have 20-plus rounds in them.)
But new gun control laws by themselves will not prevent the carnage that has been happening in schools. (Mass shootings are happening in many places besides schools, and there is no easy or quick fix for the nationwide assault on our fellow Americans.) Changes in many sectors — from the gun lobby to how schools operate to mental health — are going to need to show a cooperative spirit to address this problem.
In the meantime, let’s all say a prayer that it won’t happen again. But I think all of know it will — but why? We also know the answer to that: Did we do anything to correct the problem?
Tom Talerico
Morgantown
