fbpx
Connect with Point of View   to get exclusive commentary and updates

Climate Crisis

climate change
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Kerby Andersonnever miss viewpoints

It’s becoming more and more difficult to keep track of every crisis in America. We have an immigration crisis on our border. We have had a crisis of getting Americans and others out of Afghanistan. We have a drug crisis and a mental health crisis. Racial tensions and a rising suicide rate are just a few examples.

You might assume that President Biden wouldn’t want to call anything else happening a crisis. But earlier this month he used the hurricanes that hit the US to argue that we are in the middle of a “climate crisis.” In fact, he says, it is “code red” for the world. The White House national climate adviser warns that climate is now a “health emergency.”

If you look at the weather records, you will discover two things. First, hurricanes are not touching land at higher frequencies than in the past. Second, the storms that do make landfall are no more intense than in previous years.

But let’s for a moment agree with the president and his administration. If we really want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are supposedly altering our climate, where should we focus our attention? More than half of the global population resides in cities, which are responsible for the vast amount of greenhouse gases spewed into the atmosphere. And it turns out that the top 25 “megacities” produce a majority (52%) of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

There’s just one problem. The latest list shows that 23 of the 25 worst offenders are “megacities” in China. The two cities that aren’t in China are Moscow and Tokyo. President Biden will have little or no influence on any of those cities. In case you are wondering, only four US cities are even in the top 50.

This brings me back to a point I have made before. If you really are concerned about greenhouse gases and climate change, climate change activists need to focus on China rather than the United States. viewpoints new web version

Viewpoints sign-up