Over the past few days I have watched the outcry from the “We're-All-Gonna-Die-If-We-Don't-DO-SOMETHING-Like-Impoverish-Ourselves-While-Everyone-Else-Eats-Our-Lunch” envirowackos after President Trump announced the US is withdrawing from the Paris Accords. You'd think he had ordered the Black Helicopters to swoop in, take away the envirowackos' children, and use them as fuel to power his financial empire.
More than a few of the more level-headed environmentalists have stated that even with all of the draconian measures we could possibly take will not affect the wholly unreliable pie-in-the-sky projection of a 2.0ºC increase in global average temperatures, with all of a 0.015ºC difference. In my profession, 0.015 out of 2.0 would be considered signal noise. One must also remember that the oft repeated 2.0ºC increase is based upon climate models that have already been shown to be absolute crap as they don't even come close to matching the actual temperature data, NOAA's 'massaging' of previous temperature data notwithstanding.
Many of these same hysterical envirowackos have also conveniently forgotten the outcome of the Kyoto Protocols. Even though President Clinton signed on to Kyoto, the US Senate refused the ratify the treaty by a vote of 95-0. We didn't even come close to implementing the actions to which we would have been obligated under the conditions of the treaty, but unlike the signatories to Kyoto, the US saw its CO2 emissions drop to a much greater extent than they might have under Kyoto. In fact, some of those signatory nations saw their CO2 emissions rise and others that had garnered exemptions from Kyoto, primarily China and India, saw their CO2 emissions rise at a rapid rate.
I think the Trump did the right thing in withdrawing from the Paris Accords because as best I could see there was nothing but a downside for the US if it were to abide by them while giving our economic rivals a pass. And if history is any guide, I have a strong suspicion that we will again outpace the signatories of the Paris Accords in reducing our CO2 emissions footprint without the need to hobble our economy to do it.
