October 03, 2018

U.S. Gov’t: Planet Earth is a lost cause

located:	USA
editor:	Yair Oded

It is official. According to a July 2018 report compiled by the U.S. government’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the average global temperature will rise by 7 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. The NHTSA also recognises in the document that the drastic spike in temperature is the result of human activity and industrialisation.

Yet, the report finally concludes that since global warming is inevitable, there is no point in trying to curb CO2 emissions, giving various industries (specifically automakers) a green light to pollute the atmosphere as they please.  

As reported by The Washington Post last week, the NHTSA statement was compiled with the help of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in order to justify the administration’s move to roll back on Obama-era fuel-efficiency standards to restrain CO2 emissions from cars and light trucks built after 2020. The statement reads that avoiding such a catastrophic rise in global temperature “would require substantial increases in technology innovation and adoption compared to today’s levels and would require the economy and the vehicle fleet to move away from the use of fossil fuels, which is not currently technologically feasible or economically feasible.”

The agency argues that whether or not the U.S. government would move to freeze restrictions on vehicle emissions in the next six years, global warming would occur, and thus imposing ‘cumbersome’ financial and logistical burdens on the motor industry would be futile.

The NHTSA statement constitutes the epitome of hypocrisy, for in the very same document the federal government argues that it is human activity that leads to the warming and destruction of the Planet (and names transportation as the second largest contributor to CO2 emissions), yet uses this data to justify its decision to do nothing to tackle climate change. Ironically, it was the NHTSA’s own data and statistics that were used by the Natural Resources Defense Council to challenge the federal government’s freeze on fuel efficiency standards in a California court.

A 7 degree increase in global temperature would have a devastating effect on both the planet and human society. It will spawn even deadlier storms, fires, and floods; lead to a sea level rise that will submerge coastal areas across the globe, and make large swaths of the planet simply too hot to live in.

It is true that the U.S. government, as one of the primary polluting nations (according to its own report), plays a critical role in the fight against climate change, and it appears that only significant domestic pressure (exerted by concerned citizens, community leaders, environmentally conscious businesses, and politicians) would help to reverse the terrifying environmental agenda of the current administration. Yet, the indifference and neglect of the United States as far as climate change is concerned should not discourage other nations from tackling global warming. On the contrary. Now more than ever is the time to pressure governments and industry leaders across the world to adopt stricter legislation to curb emissions. Equally important is increasing awareness of the issue through climate change education among the citizens of the world. Global warming concerns us all, and assuming personal responsibility for our role in it would be step one in fighting it.