Climate Change

This past week, an international climate change conference called COP27 was held. It’s a meeting of governments who signed onto the world’s major climate change agreements, such as the Paris Agreement. 

The event is an opportunity for the signatory nations to discuss everything from steps they are taking to adapt to the impacts of climate change to financing climate action.

The conference so far has not attracted as much attention compared to other years because of other important happenings around the world, but President Biden will attend towards the end and will fly to Bali, Indonesia with other world leaders for another conference.

As we all realize, the Biden administration’s main issue is climate change. It’s the reason they want to destroy the American oil industry and they are using climate change to entice farmers and ranchers into cost sharing programs. A number of people from the administration will be in attendance at both conferences including U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

Climate change in the last year has not been as big of an issue with inflation and other pressing issues going on in America and around the world. The world’s two biggest emitters, India and China, are not attending these conferences along with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. 

The poorer countries attending want the richer countries to give them more money to repair damage from floods and other storm events they say are caused by climate change. They also want a massive overhaul of international development loans and a 10 percent tax on fossil fuel companies, especially the oil companies with their current profits. 

The participants also have their sights set on agriculture as there are a number of side events focusing on the connection between agriculture and climate change. Led by the Biden administration, the Agriculture Innovation Mission for climate initiative is expected to announce an increase in member country commitments from $4 billion to $8 billion. They recognize the threat to food security this may cause and the need to be careful. 

Everyone at this conference is ringing alarm bells claiming, “Humanity has a choice, cooperate or perish,” and, “It is either a climate solidarity pact or a collective suicide pact.” Regardless, our president is leading the pack.

Then, on the other hand, people like Will Happer, PhD, says, “Climate has continually changed since the world began. Climate will continue to change as long as the world exists. But humans have little to do with climate change.” 

He goes on to say, “I know more than most scientists about how greenhouse gases work, and I can assure you increasing concentrations of these gases will not cause a climate emergency. More of the main anthropogenic greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO₂), will cause a small, beneficial warming of the Earth’s climate. But more CO₂ will be very good for agriculture, forestry and all photosynthetic life. Atmospheric CO₂ concentrations have been dangerously low in our contemporary geological period, with evidence of CO₂ starvation during the most recent glacial maximum. Plants are already responding very positively to the CO₂ increases of the past century. More CO₂ will bring more benefits.”  

H.L. Mencken said, “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed, and hence clamorous, to be led to safety by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.” 

I have to say, I agree with the last two gentlemen. Through the years, I have seen the change in climate and expect to see it change some more. I don’t trust our president and United Nations much with their power grabs.