It doesn't matter if climate change is a hoax.
I want to begin this by saying emphatically that I DO NOT believe that climate change is a hoax.
BUT. A lot of people seem to be debating this, especially with regards to Trump's plans without ever looking at the first thing they should be looking at. Whether or not it even matters whether it is true or not.
Unfortunately, it doesn't matter. We need not even waste time considering the reality of climate change. Clean/green/renewable solutions are displacing the old systems and coal, gas and other non-renewable resources are in markets which are shrinking. Both at home and abroad.
The fact that less than 2% of the world's nations refused to sign the Paris Accord is a sign of this. THE WORLD is moving towards renewable energy. It doesn't matter if their reasons are to protect the environment, or to grow a specific industry, or to "dupe" American's into believing in climate change. And it doesn't matter if the basis for their motivation is even correct.
Nearly 200 countries have signaled that they will shift their policies and money in those directions. Companies like Tesla and the commitments made by others like Apple and Microsoft show that there is also a movement towards this in North America.
By trying to breathe new life into coal and petroleum all that will happen is those sectors will slow in their decline by a bit which will tie up money and human resources in fields which will die out. And when they finally cease being viable, the rest of the world will have put more of their effort into the fields which will then be generating global wealth and stability. In other words, all this does is make the US less competitive in the longer term. You've mortgaged your future to finance sectors which no amount of money will be able to sustain indefinitely.
In case I wasn't completely clear... EVEN if climate change WERE a Chinese hoax. It backfired. With the whole world believing it, and investing money into it, it is where the world economy is now going. Economies are built on the movement of money, not whether or not the underlying reasons are actually true. By convincing everyone except Trump and two other national leaders of this "hoax" China now needs to invest in it as well to remain competitive. And with so much interest, they would be unlikely to be unilaterally dominant in this field.
The only way a Chinese hoax would both be successful and made sense would be if only a minority bought into it. That minority would likely suffer because there would be no global demand and the shift in focus would also consequently weaken their economy in other areas.
In other words... if China convinced the US and perhaps a handful of smaller nations of climate change, but the rest of the world remained focused on something like coal. And let's say China is REALLY good in coal but can't compete with the US. THEN this would make sense. The net result would be, due to the US shifting their focus, China could now pull ahead in coal. And because the rest of the world wouldn't believe in climate change, Chinese coal would take the lead over American coal.
However... it didn't quite work that way. Now did it? EVERYONE BUT the US and a few smaller nations believe in climate change. As a result the US hurts both it's image on the world stage on this matter and hurts that sector of the economy by favouring a product which is losing prevalence. If it were a hoax, it is the American refusal to be duped which is now going to rob them of future progress.
I was originally only joking when I said after the election that a Trump presidency would only boost Canada to the top of the world stage. And while there is still a bit of a joke there because Canada doesn't seem poised to lead, but, there is some truth as well. The EU and China definitely seem poised to dethrone the US economically. Something which would have seemed impossible for at least a while longer with even a quasi-sane direction being taken.
As I said... what baffles me the most is that it doesn't matter what the reason is. The rest of the world, and it's money is heading in the direction of the Paris Accord. Hoax or reality, sticking with the agreement is still the right move. The American economy is NOT as large as the combined economy of those committed to it. No where near it at that.
BUT. A lot of people seem to be debating this, especially with regards to Trump's plans without ever looking at the first thing they should be looking at. Whether or not it even matters whether it is true or not.
Unfortunately, it doesn't matter. We need not even waste time considering the reality of climate change. Clean/green/renewable solutions are displacing the old systems and coal, gas and other non-renewable resources are in markets which are shrinking. Both at home and abroad.
The fact that less than 2% of the world's nations refused to sign the Paris Accord is a sign of this. THE WORLD is moving towards renewable energy. It doesn't matter if their reasons are to protect the environment, or to grow a specific industry, or to "dupe" American's into believing in climate change. And it doesn't matter if the basis for their motivation is even correct.
Nearly 200 countries have signaled that they will shift their policies and money in those directions. Companies like Tesla and the commitments made by others like Apple and Microsoft show that there is also a movement towards this in North America.
By trying to breathe new life into coal and petroleum all that will happen is those sectors will slow in their decline by a bit which will tie up money and human resources in fields which will die out. And when they finally cease being viable, the rest of the world will have put more of their effort into the fields which will then be generating global wealth and stability. In other words, all this does is make the US less competitive in the longer term. You've mortgaged your future to finance sectors which no amount of money will be able to sustain indefinitely.
In case I wasn't completely clear... EVEN if climate change WERE a Chinese hoax. It backfired. With the whole world believing it, and investing money into it, it is where the world economy is now going. Economies are built on the movement of money, not whether or not the underlying reasons are actually true. By convincing everyone except Trump and two other national leaders of this "hoax" China now needs to invest in it as well to remain competitive. And with so much interest, they would be unlikely to be unilaterally dominant in this field.
The only way a Chinese hoax would both be successful and made sense would be if only a minority bought into it. That minority would likely suffer because there would be no global demand and the shift in focus would also consequently weaken their economy in other areas.
In other words... if China convinced the US and perhaps a handful of smaller nations of climate change, but the rest of the world remained focused on something like coal. And let's say China is REALLY good in coal but can't compete with the US. THEN this would make sense. The net result would be, due to the US shifting their focus, China could now pull ahead in coal. And because the rest of the world wouldn't believe in climate change, Chinese coal would take the lead over American coal.
However... it didn't quite work that way. Now did it? EVERYONE BUT the US and a few smaller nations believe in climate change. As a result the US hurts both it's image on the world stage on this matter and hurts that sector of the economy by favouring a product which is losing prevalence. If it were a hoax, it is the American refusal to be duped which is now going to rob them of future progress.
I was originally only joking when I said after the election that a Trump presidency would only boost Canada to the top of the world stage. And while there is still a bit of a joke there because Canada doesn't seem poised to lead, but, there is some truth as well. The EU and China definitely seem poised to dethrone the US economically. Something which would have seemed impossible for at least a while longer with even a quasi-sane direction being taken.
As I said... what baffles me the most is that it doesn't matter what the reason is. The rest of the world, and it's money is heading in the direction of the Paris Accord. Hoax or reality, sticking with the agreement is still the right move. The American economy is NOT as large as the combined economy of those committed to it. No where near it at that.
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