Is Climate Change a Greater Threat than Terrorism?

Earlier this year President Obama stated that climate change is a greater threat than terrorism. Given that human beings can be prone to hyperbole, especially when motivated by their individual world view, it is worthwhile for each individual to put the available information through his own lens, and draw his own conclusions. In order for you to do that, you may find it helpful to look at some facts on both sides of the global-warming issue, drawn together by Matt Ridley and Ben Peiser in the Nov. 28 Wall Street Journal on this topic.
Yes, the world is in fact growing warmer. Temperatures have risen 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit (F) in the last 35 years. No, this is not the first time the earth has grown warmer. The earth was significantly warmer several times over the last 10,000 years. No, there are not more storms, floods nor droughts.
Yes, Arctic sea ice has melted more in summer than it did three decades ago. No, Antarctic sea ice has increased.
Yes, sea levels are rising about a foot a century. No, the rate of sea-level rise has not accelerated for centuries.
Yes, according to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPOC), temperatures are likely to be 2.7 to 8.1 degrees (F) warmer by the end of the century, which may be very harmful. No, the 2.7 to 8.1 degree temperature rise, per IPOC, may actually be mildly beneficial. Per Rich Toll of the University of Sussex, carbon dioxide causes things to grow greener and more drought-resistant. Toll concludes that the change may be good or bad, but in either case, it will not impact us significantly.
The authors opine that if it were easy and cheap to decarbonize, then of course do so, but the last 30 years has shown that there is no technology capable of replacing fossil fuels at a price acceptable to the public. Further, there are a billion people whose lives could be greatly improved with access to the power the rest of us enjoy, but is being limited by the climate-change measures being put into place. They conclude, “(C)limate policy is hurting the poor. To put it bluntly, climate change and its likely impact are proving slower and less harmful than we feared, while decarbonization of the economy is proving more painful and costly than we hoped.”
Money is a complicating factor in creating an objective understanding of this issue. There is huge money in the decarbonization industry, and it is fighting furiously to prevent its budgets from being reduced. We can expect a vague agreement out of the Paris talks to make it look like everyone is on board. But as the authors point out, “The fact that global warming has slowed significantly over the last two decades has reduced public concern and political pressure in most countries.”
In a nutshell, global warming is not the threat it was initially thought by some to be. Europe’s manufacturing competitiveness has been significantly undermined by unilateral decarbonization policies. They want relief from these policies unless they also are binding upon others. In fact, China’s coal consumption has been growing 2.6 percent per year, and India’s 5 percent.
Where is this climate-change effort leading? That will ultimately rest on what WE, the people, believe, and WHOM we believe. In light of the security issues which the U.S. and the world face, this whole climate-change emphasis is really strange. As Gov. Christie said, “This is the president once again living in his fantasy world rather than the world as it actually is. He really believes that the folks are worried about climate change when what they really care about now is the Islamic State and Syria and terrorism.”
The fact is, our military has been financially stretched in its efforts to combat terrorism; its budget has been cut by tens of billions of dollars ($698 billion in 2009 to $637 billion in 2015). In the meantime, our federal taxes have been spent on subsidies to try to decarbonize. The federal government has been diverted from its primary function of protecting the American people from foreign enemies.
At the end of the day it is up to us to decide what type of government we want, and to vote accordingly.
Art Hall