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In yet another blow to the climate-hysteric narrative, a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that the United States is leading the entire world in cutting carbon-dioxide emissions. The findings shatter the myth that the United States is holding the world back in attempts to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions, which climate alarmists say are the main reason that the Earth is in danger from “global warming.”
“The United States saw the largest decline in energy-related CO2 emissions in 2019 on a country basis — a fall of 140 Mt, or 2.9%, to 4.8 Gt,” the report said. “U.S. emissions are now down almost 1 Gt from their peak in the year 2000, the largest absolute decline by any country over that period.”
In the United States, a reduction in the use of coal-fired energy plants along with increased use of natural gas is largely credited for the decrease in emissions. “A 15% reduction in the use of coal for power generation underpinned the decline in overall US emissions in 2019. Coal-fired power plants faced even stronger competition from natural gas-fired generation, with benchmark gas prices an average of 45% lower than 2018 levels. As a result, gas increased its share in electricity generation to a record high of 37%.”
So, all that fracking that so-called environmentalists hate is producing cleaner, more efficient fuel with which to power the country.
Wealthy, developed Western countries are leading the way in emissions reductions. The European Union, which for this report includes the United Kingdom, saw a five-percent decrease in emissions. Germany lead the way, with its emissions dropping some eight percent to “a level not seen since the 1950s.”
With all of that good news on the emissions front, it’s odd that, globally, the report states that emissions remained basically flat. How can this be?
It seems that wealthy nations take environmentalism and side issues like climate change more seriously. The good news that Western emissions are falling are offset by the fact that the two most populous countries in the world, China and India, are continuing to rely on fuel that is dirtier and produces more emissions.
“Emissions outside advanced economies grew by close to 400 Mt in 2019, with almost 80% of the increase coming from Asia. In this region, coal demand continued to expand, accounting for over 50% of energy use, and is responsible for around 10 Gt of emissions,” according to the report.
In China, the report cites the country’s sluggish economy and green innovations as reasons for emissions not being worse than they were. “In China, emissions rose but were tempered by slower economic growth and higher output from low-carbon sources of electricity.”
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) weighed in on Twitter: “FACT you will NEVER see on the 6 o’clock news: U.S. emissions FELL 2.9%, or by 140 million tons, continuing the trend of the United States LEADING THE WORLD IN TOTAL EMISSIONS DECLINE since 2000.”
So, despite electing Donald Trump and leaving the Paris climate accords, the United States is the country with the best record in reducing greenhouse gases since the year 2000. What does this tell us?
The simple fact that the wealthiest nations in the world lead in CO2 reductions tell us that if anthropogenic climate change were a major problem — and despite what you hear in the mainstream media, this is far from a settled matter — it would be wealthy, stable nations with good economies that would lead the way in combatting it.
The surest and quickest way out of the world’s carbon emission “problem” is to create wealth in poor countries. People who are healthy, well-fed, and sufficiently housed are far more likely to worry about the environment than people who have to struggle to stay alive each day.
Capitalism and free markets create wealth far more efficiently than alternatives such as socialism and communism.
But you won’t see climate hysterics such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) or Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg celebrating this news. Instead, the climate cult will stomp its collective feet and declare that it’s “not good enough.”
That’s because, for them, the fight against global warming is not about saving the Earth; it’s about politics and a move toward global socialism. It’s not climate change. It’s political change.
James Murphy is a freelance journalist who writes on a variety of subjects, with a primary focus on the ongoing anthropogenic climate-change hoax and cultural issues. He can be reached at [email protected]
