• ttubravesrock
    +5

    —The agency designed to protect the environment in our country is now controlled by climate change deniers, which mortgages the future for our children and grandchildren and puts us further behind in a race we were already losing.

    Fair enough point. Let's see where this goes next...

    —What the hell, let’s repeat that one, since it seems important: Our planet is dying, and far from solving the problem, we’re now one of the world leaders in making it worse.

    I'd like to see how that part is true. I don't have a hard time believing that we aren't doing enough, but saying that we are one of the world leaders in making it worse is quite the stretch.

    • leweb
      +7

      The US is the second country in the world by CO2 emissions, after China. And China is trying to improve, not go the other way.

      We also start wars all over the world, work to destroy legitimate governments, and kill innocent civilians at rates that dwarf those of any other country, not only now but in history.

      I guess it depends on what you call "killing the planet", but by any reasonably metric I can think of that fits that description the US is definitely one of the leaders.

      • ttubravesrock
        +4

        According to the data /u/AdelleChattre supplied in her comment, in the past 40 years China has increased their emissions by 500% while increasing their population by 40%. In the same 40 years, USA has increased their emissions by 15% while increasing their population by 50%. How is China trying to improve but the USA isn't?

        • leweb
          +6

          Welll, they claim that they're committed to the Paris climate change accord, and seem to have a plan. Also, they have been steadily reducing coal use. Sure, they've done damage in the past, but at least seem to be moving in the right direction, unlike the US.

          Plus, even if you believe that China are the number one bad guys, being number two still fits the bill for being "one of the world leaders".

          • ttubravesrock
            +3

            Maybe it's more of a phrasing issue, but saying "we’re now one of the world leaders in making it worse" makes it sound like a recent development. I'm saying that yes, we are bad... yes, we are one of the worst emitters... no, we aren't doing enough. However, relative to population, the USA is actually moving in the right direction while China and several other developing countries are not. Looking at our emission numbers, it appears we've peaked in MtCO2 emissions and are slowly working the number down. That's gross numbers. if you look at it per capita, we've actually improved quite a bit.

            That said, we still need to do more.

    • AdelleChattre
      +4

      No, I don’t think that’s such a stretch. Congress wouldn’t agree to jack, not even to the Obama Administration’s tame suggestion that we could have a non-binding agreement to cut down on the rate at which we continue increasing carbon emissions, so how could anyone figure the U.S. doesn’t rate as an emitter anymore?

      • ttubravesrock
        +4

        I'm not saying that the US hasn't contributed and isn't still contributing to climate change + greenhouse gas emissions. Using the Global Carbon Atlas you linked, I go back 40 years to 1977. USA, Russia, and China are #1-3 with 4700 MtCO2, 2000 MtCO2, and 1300 MtCO2. Fast forward to 1987 and the picture looks similar. USA, Russia, and China are #1-3 with 4700 MtCO2, 2500 MtCO2, and 2200 MtCO2. In 1997, USA, China, and Russia are #1-3 with 5700 MtCO2, 3400 MtCO2 and 1500 MtCO2. In 2007, China, USA, and Russia are #1-3 with 7800, 6100, and 1700 MtCO2. In 2015 (there is no data for 2016 or 2017 yet), China, USA, and India are #1-3 with 10400, 5400, and 2300 MtCO2. Over the last 40 years, despite our population increasing by 50%, our emissions have largely stayed flat.

        I don't want to say that we can't do more. I don't even want to say that we are making things better. However, as a whole, we are generally improving our behavior and the numbers you provided to me support that.