Gitzinger, Ben

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Cleaning the Future: The Necessity of Accountability in the Years to Come – The Texas Oratorhttps://thetexasorator.com/2018/11/05/cleaning-the-future-the-necessity-of-accountability-in-the-years-to-come/[5/20/2020 10:40:35 AM]HOME ›  ENVIRONMENT ›  CLEANING THE FUTURE: THE NECESSITY OF ACCOUNTABILITY IN THEYEARS TO COMECleaning the Future: The Necessity of Accountability in the Years to ComeBY BEN GITZINGER on  NOVEMBER 5, 2018 • ( 1 )For years, people around the globe have foolishly argued whether or not human-generated climate change poses aserious threat to society. In spending an exorbitant amount of time trying to convince those in power that drastic actionis needed, the inaction of these individuals might have exacerbated the problem beyond the possibility of recovery. Acouple of weeks ago, the United Nations’  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a rather bleakreport  regarding the future of the planet. In it, the writers declare that on the current trajectory of industry and airpollution, the goal of the nations in the Paris accord to limit a rise in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2100is impossible without drastic changes  in all aspects of society in the next decade. In order to meet this benchmark ,CO2 emissions would need to be reduced by 45 percent by 2030 and by 2050 would need to have a net increase ofzero, meaning that the same amount of CO2 ejected into the atmosphere would have to be balanced by the amountremoved from the air by manufacturers.If these changes are not made, the IPCC’s report projects a global temperature increase of at least 2 degrees Celsius.Now half a degree  may not seem like a lot, but it can still have a drastic impact on the planet. It could mean stormsand droughts 33 percent more intense, the extinction of tropical coral reefs, and a reduction of freshwater and cropyield in some areas twice of what would be seen with a 1.5 degree increase.Even if tomorrow the world ceased to produce carbon emissions, the warming effects would persist for decadesbecause of the carbon already in the atmosphere. Not only will humanity need to limit how much CO2 we emit, butwe also need to place large amounts of funding into research on extracting earlier emissions from the atmosphere anddisposing of them. And if anyone wants to prevent a 2 degree Celsius increase, then urgent action must be taken.However, this seems rather unlikely because of the current political climate. President Trump has previously calledclimate change a hoax  developed by the Chinese meant to intimidate the United States into producing less coal.Whether or not he believes that, it reflects his close ties to big energy companies — both through his political positionand from previous business dealings — who would have much to lose if a transition to cleaner energy becomes apriority on the global stage. Regulating emissions in the production process will prove to be expensive, regardless ofover how many years the transition may take place.A recent report  from the Carbon Disclosure Project has shown that 100 companies are responsible for around 71percent of greenhouse gas emissions. It is preposterous that so few people should be able to harm the planet sodisproportionately because they refuse to spend the extra money on researching new technologies. The governments ofthe world must work toward restricting energy and manufacturing companies in order to curb such exponential anddisastrous emissions, especially if there is to be any hope of preventing more than a 1.5 degree Celsius increase.For a while it seemed that the world was on the right track. Practically every country in the world signed on to theParis Accord in 2016, a climate agreement wherein each country would work to reduce the percentage of emissionscurrently produced in order to reduce global warming. However, in 2017, President Trump decided to withdraw  the                      Academic – ish.Who We AreThe Texas Orator is a multi-partisan,peer-reviewed political publication that ispart of the Associated Collegiate Press.We value thorough analysis in our articlesand strive to protect the ideals of freespeech and unhindered access toinformation on campus and nationwide.We seek to keep the student bodyinformed of the implications of ever-changing political climates, bothdomestically and abroad, from a range ofvoices and perspectives.We have been indexed as scholarlyliterature by the UT Libraries and byUT Undergraduate Studies.We are sponsored by Ramsey’sRestaurant of Victoria, Texas, and theThomas Jefferson Center for Core Texts& Ideas. We are also a member of UT’sCivic Engagement Alliance.Follow us on Twitter ABOUT ARCHIVE ARTS IDEAS PODCAST MERCH CONTACT JOIN BOOK SUBMISSIONSCampus Culture Domestic Affairs Economy Education Environment Foreign Affairs Health Law Philosophy Satire TechFollowCleaning the Future: The Necessity of Accountability in the Years to Come – The Texas Oratorhttps://thetexasorator.com/2018/11/05/cleaning-the-future-the-necessity-of-accountability-in-the-years-to-come/[5/20/2020 10:40:35 AM]Reusable Straws Suck Spoiled by OilRage and Mourning at theCapitol: Protest on a BurningPlanet and the 9.20.19Austin #ClimateStrikeContra-Texan: Zero Wasteis Wasteful‹ Might or Right: Theories of Justice inInternational RelationsA Look Into the Stand with Survivors Protest  ›U.S. from the agreement, serving as a major blow toward hopes for improvement, considering the U.S. is one of thelargest producers  of greenhouse gases, second only to China, and responsible for 15 percent of global greenhouse gasemissions.This year, Trump’s administration has decided to cut the budget of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office ofEnergy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) by 72 percent for the 2019 fiscal year. In more recent months, theyhave proposed the suspension  of requirements on automobile manufacturers that their vehicles must become morefuel efficient every year. Most drastically, they have also expressed their intention to remove  the special authority toregulate greenhouse gas emissions given to California, a state that is subject to increasingly dangerous wildfires as aresult of climate change.How does the administration justify these actions? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) hasdetermined in a recent report  that if no action is taken to combat climate change, the Earth will see a 4 degree increaseby 2100. Rather than using this frightening statistic to urge people into action, they cite this figure with the idea thatthe planet’s fate is already sealed and that there is no reason to attempt to correct this figure. Many conservatives,including Trump himself, normally cite scientists and sources  that argue the climate is changing only because ofnatural causes, but the Trump administration appears in this instance to have reversed its position.What caused them to go from removing  scholarly articles that supported the idea of human-generated climate changfrom the Environmental Protection Agency’s website to acknowledging that humans are on a track to drastically alterlife on the planet through negligence? President Trump and his team appeared to manipulate the facts, ignoring datathat suggest human-generated climate change is an issue until it benefited their agenda to do the opposite.Ironically, officials are now using the same data as the climate change scientists who urge action but with aninterpretation that suggests that no change needs to be made concerning our current behavior. However, just becausethe process of updating energy production will be costly and expensive doesn’t mean the transition won’t be worth it.In the middle of such a frightening time, it is important that action be taken to minimize the effects of climate change,regardless of its cause. Until politicians who take climate change seriously come into power, it is important that thosewho are concerned for the planet and for future generations take action and do what they can to raise awareness whilesomething can still be done to protect the world we live in.Share this:Twitter FacebookCategories: Environment Tags: climate change , EPA , IPCC , paris accord , UNRELATED ARTICLESOur Instagram    Cleaning the Future: The Necessity of Accountability in the Years to Come – The Texas Oratorhttps://thetexasorator.com/2018/11/05/cleaning-the-future-the-necessity-of-accountability-in-the-years-to-come/[5/20/2020 10:40:35 AM]1 replyAndy GitzingerDecember 4, 2018 • 12:30 pmGreat article! Good length with great references.Reply ↓Leave a ReplyPOWERED BY WORDPRESS.COM.Like

Cleaning the Future: The Necessity of Accountability in the Years to Come

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Cleaning the Future: The Necessity of Accountability in the Years to Come

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