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Trump is getting the support of oil billionaires and oil and gas backers as he decides to ignore climate change completely in favor of "Drill, Baby Drill." Costs of not doing anything for climate change action would accumulate in the absence of action and it could cost the US upwards of 1 trillion dollars in 2028 to fix what was breaking and was ignored for 4 years.

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EU energy ministers approve a windfall tax of $140 billion as solidarity contribution of fossil fuel producers. This follows action taken by president Biden in the $369 billion US Climate bill to generate the funds for social solidarity and for climate change action for brighter future in US and Europe.

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China generates 53% of its emissions from coal in May 2024. All the remaining from non fossil sources. Two factors are evident, yet both do not indicate a big fall off in fossil emissions from this point just a plateauing effect with it flattening out. The first is that China is putting in solar and wind at 8 times the level of the US, taking up two thirds of world solar and wind installations. The second is that the one third of emissions from construction and real estate is falling off because that industrial sector has collapsed. Overall the future points to slowing of emissions as China comes only gradually down from that 53%. What happens in China makes a huge impact on climate change. India has also committed to climate change action and meeting targets early under PM Modi so that India as it industrializes will not follow the path of jumping fossil emissions China had. This is useful to know as the US and EU, UK, expand solar and wind. It is important that the US stay committed to climate change action something missing from the Republican platform for 2024. Delaying climate change action will impose huge costs on the US that could be about 1 trillion dollars if it is stalled now and is taken up in 2028. ...

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A $9.2 billion loan from the US government supports US goals for achieving climate change by shifting from fossil fuels to electric vehicles. It also responds to China's subsidies to BYD and other EV makers with the US supporting its own EV manufacturers. WSJ criticism of the loan does not take into account  the need for the US to work with its industry for leadership in the technologies needed to fight climate change, and not fall behind other nations that support their manufacturing including China, South Korea and Japan with hidden subsidies and advantages.

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The heads of major oil companies, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell, BP,  face questioning as they testify in the US Congress on the spread of climate disinformation. The Congressional inquiry is the first that will tackle industry efforts to hinder action on climate change.

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Typhoon winds that exacerbated the floods in Beijing, China, are shown here in a BBC report. Recent floods in China and fires in Maui, Hawaii, show effects of climate change on opposite sides of the planet in August 2023. This is one more reason for the US and China to work with other countries in limiting the effects of climate change and focus on the important issues that require cooperation and mutual effort.

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Scott Bessent on restoring the mission of the IMF "brutally calling out imbalances" including China's surplus economy and unfair trading practices instead of "whistling by the graveyard"- in his address to the IMF, Feb 15, 2025. Bessent says the IMF and World Bank had mission creep and lost track of financial stability and were not asking the hard questions about China's focus on exports at the expense of the manufacturing capacity and jobs of America and Europe.  Hee are his remarks meant to show that Bessent is taking an all of the above approach on energy, knows climate change is real but cals for flexible approach, an approach he wants the World Bank to take. And for the IMF to focus on key issues that have led to deindustrialization of US and Europe essential for financial stability before getting into social and cultural issues that are not its mandate for which it is ill equipped to address. Bessent told the IMF and World Bank - "Instead, the IMF has suffered from mission creep. The IMF was once unwavering in its mission of promoting global monetary cooperation and financial stability. Now it devotes disproportionate time and resources to work on climate change, gender, and social issues.   These issues are not the IMF’s mission. And the IMF’s focus in these areas is crowding out its work on critical macroeconomic issues. The IMF must be a brutal truth-teller, and not just to some members. Instead, today’s IMF has been whistling past the graveyard. Its 2024 External Sector Report was entitled “Imbalances Receding.”  This pollyannish outlook is symptomatic of an institution more dedicated to preserving the status quo than asking the hard questions."  Some of these hard questions are about surplus countries- about China and their focus on exporting their way till they destroy the manufacturing sector of the rest of the world. ...

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That India is meeting and exceeding goals set under the paris Climate Change agreement is a great achievement of the last 6 years says this Hindustan Times editorial. India's achievements in solar and other forms of renewable energy have been achieved with a bold vision and strong effort of its own showing that climate change agreements are not the only way to tackle climate change. As one of the major users of energy from coal and fossil fuels India's bold action makes a huge difference for the world. As China, EU, Britain and Japan commit to a net zero carbon target India is now one of many countries in the competition to reduce fossil fuels. This also means HT says that India must now be prepared for technological competition as well as shift to renewable energy sources. The return of the U.S. to the climate accords now positions both countries to benefit from each others advances in renewable energy. Partnership with Britain and Japan also offers new possibilities for technology access and sharing so that more gains can be made to benefit India's and the global environment for clean skies, clean air and clean waters. ...

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Xi has chosen upward mobility for the Chinese people in all parts of the country including rural areas, reducing disparities in income, tackling climate change over the very hyper growth that has caused climate change and wreaks havoc in floods and fires across the planet. By the Chinese dream is meant that China would have a fair chance to match the western world with its own culture, language, creativity of its people, and he has chosen to do this in away that respects China's history and struggles with imperialist Britain, and the imperial powers in the modern period since 1500. It only poses a threat to the US if the US does not also invest in its own people, follows misguided military adventures overseas, and does not invest in its own manufacturing and technological potential at home. Historically the imperial powers were Britain, France, Germany, Russia. The US under Woodrow Wilson and under FDR pursued policies that were at odds with the imperial powers and favored a China that could build the potential of its own people far beyond what the imperial powers intended- for India, Turkey, China, Vietnam, and the rest of Asia. At each step of the way to 1948 the US policy remained true to this. Even the Cold War was a struggle against an imperial power- Russia which under the Bolsheviks and even today follows imperial minded policies for Eastern Europe. The Biden administration and the Xi administration in China are really not that far apart in pursuing policies that support people from all parts of their countries, and are resolute in the fight against climate change making growth conform with respecting the earth. ...

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Amazon Prime has a trailer on King Charles's vision of a revolution for climate change action. The idea is to get a broader audience through streaming. The film title is -Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision.   Kate Winslett tells the story of King Charles and his vision.  It includes new footage of Charles with David Beckham, Meryl Streep. The film has been narrated by Kate Winslet, which was for Winslet “both a pleasure and a privilege” as she is part of the King's Foundation. The King’s Foundation said: “This documentary aims to showcase the importance of harmony to a new audience, and highlight the urgent action needed to help protect our planet, as His Majesty reflects on his life’s work across nature, sustainability and the environment.” The film is based on the King’s 2010 book, Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World. “This is a call to revolution. Revolution is a strong word, and I use it deliberately. The many environmental and social problems that now loom large on our horizon cannot be solved by carrying on with the very approach that has caused them. This will involve taking all sorts of dramatic steps to change the way we consider the world and act in it.” “The book is not just trying to raise the points about getting an electric car and some organic carrots. “This is about thinking fundamentally about the relationship we have with the life-support systems that sustain us and everything else and, indeed, the relationships between all of us, and how we organise our society, including our economy, and making points about circularity in our economic system, and how we might be inspired by nature in terms of how we think about resource use and how we look at ideas like economic growth.” ...

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COP30 Belem, Brazil- in the absence of the US the meeting of Merz, Macron, Lula, Starmer and Chinese leaders is critical to keep the climate change fight alive in 2025. A spectacular setting where the Amazon river meets the Atlantic at Belem on the coast of northern Brazil in the state of Para.

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US president Biden holds his first formal news press conference of 2022 on January 19. It comes at the end of Biden's first year in office. Biden's achievements include 200 million Americans vaccinated, and $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed with a direct impact on the nation's infrastructure gaps. A $2 trillion Build Back Better plan for building healthcare and education, and a climate change plan are next on the agenda requiring the president to increase support for national revival and addressing challenges of climate change.

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After severe weather related events in the last 4 years, droughts, fires, earthquakes, and floods, insurers have felt the brunt of climate change. Most insurers in the US have responded to this by cutting back on fossils, not State Farm and Berkshire Hathaway which are still betting on fossil fuels with multibillion dollar bets on oil companies, says this WSJ Exclusive report. WSJ reports that the fossil fuel holdings of casualty and property insurers are now $85 billion compared to $54 billion in 2014, now 4.4 percent of the portfolio of these companies compared to 3.8 percent in 2014. This is part of Lyrarc's Climate Change Action Guage, you can see other articles on this section clicking on Climate Change Action on the left bar navigation. It keeps track of a crucial part of American and World Renewal.

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Efforts by China's climate envoy at Glasgow COP26 and US envoy John Kerry to build cooperation between China and the US on climate change. This happens at the end of COP26 talks and after president Jinping missed the Glasgow summit. Xie says China will work towards "concrete plans" for "finalization of the Paris Agreement rulebook." The US China agreement is not specific on details but includes arranging regular talks, and also a focus on curbing methane gas emissions which can produce immediate results in reducing global warming. The US and over 100 countries signed an agreement on methane gas emissions control. 

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Dvid Attenborough, the naturalist and broadcaster, says he has campaign for years against plastic pollution and no one paid attention. Now he says people are fed up with politics of Brexit and are showing great interest in fighting single use plastic. He says the people in the U.S. are acting even though the president Mr. Trump has taken action for withdrawing from the Paris climate change agreement. He sees things can change quickly if there is a new president and policy changes. 

He is heartened by the way people have received the movie Blue Planet 2 and the action politicians and ordinary people are taking. He thanks primary school teachers for all the work they are doing and the enthusiasm shown.

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Frank Press, US president Jimmy Carter's science adviser brought the climate crisis to Carter's attention as early as 1977 in a memo to the president. It was dated July 7, 1977 and had the title - Release of fossil Co2 and Catastrophic Climate Change. The Guardian gives this report on the earliest signs of the climate crisis sent to a president who installed the first solar panels at the White House.

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The effects of climate change that are the biggest issue facing both America and China and the need for cooperation on this vital issue is underscored by the floods in China and the fires in the US and Canada, the heat waves affecting both regions and the rest of the world. Even during the war in Eastern Europe one should never lose sight of the major issues that bind the major population regions of Asia in India and China with Europe and the US, and Africa, Latin America- climate change and food security, development finance and cost of living, helping workers and families in these regions.

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Achieving net zero emissions by 2050 will require huge amounts of capital. One estimate is $131 trillion. Where will it come from. The UN Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero says financial groups with assets of $130 trillion have committed to its program to cut emissions. This WSJ report says that is enough scale to generate $100 trillion through 2050 to fund the investments needed for new technologies and provide the finance for companies to restructure themselves in a new world.  The question is how much of this is real as banks, insurers, pension funds and private investor groups are only now taking on the task of restructuring the finance industry. It was not even addressed during the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change talks. For this to be truly transformative and the transformative changes to take place governments have a critical role in requiring a common standard for reporting and measuring climate change progress. Government regulatory action and oversight is essential for timely and rapid action to take place. Financial regulators, including the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England have agreed to add their own oversight through reviews and disclosure standards. The problem is that private sector plans are not concrete. Data is non existent or inconsistent and measurement is not taking place across all of the financial sector on key parameters. The UN has limited power to enforce rules. Who will act to ensure decisions are taken, progress measured after standards are set, transparency set, and how can governments deliver on each step through 2030 ensuring the transformation of the financial sector so that the decisions are taken according to a master plan for climate change in the US, UK, European Union, and India.   ...

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After the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Change Agreement, China and the European Union sought to fill the leadership on this issue. Yet the reality now looks to be different. China decreased coal consumption between 2014-2016. Now China is ramping up coal generation as it needs to provide stimulus to a slowing economy as trade relations with the U.S. worsening.  In 2017 the trend reversed with state backed loans to help economic growth and surge in provincial permits.  China is now moving forward with plans to add coal fired power equal to almost the total U.S. capacity, according to Coalswarm, which tracks power plants worldwide for coal use. This would push coal fired production to above the cap of 1,100 gigawatts China has set and its current cap. Its current production is already about half of the world's total coal fired generation and quadruple that of the U.S. In 2017 China made up one fourth of total CO2 productions.  Canada is missing its emissions targets and is not likely to meet 2020 targets say experts. In the EU members reliant on coal power energy oppose EU parliament efforts to end subsidies to the most polluting plants by 2025, seeking delay of one decade. At the climate change talks in Katowice, Poland, these changes are facing opposition. As a sign of how the situation is changing since the 2015 Paris Accords, the protests in France by yellow vest protestors started in opposition to a carbon tax intended to meet France's climate change targets. That tax increase is being withdrawn by president Macron. Families struggling financially had a different perception of the increase in the fuel tax and even young people who support meeting emissions reduction joined the protests, as reported in the New York Times and The Times. This tells a lot about how the issue of climate change has changed in the public perception in three years. ...

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Chancellor Merkel's now widely quoted words were made in Munich on May 27, 2017, after a NATO summit meeting in Brussels and a Group of 7 meeting in Italy, in which she was disconcerted by U.S. president Trump's positions on NATO, Russia, climate change, and trade. These words "the times in which we could rely fully on others - they are somewhat over." Merkel added "This is what I experienced in the last few days." After the election of Emmanuel Macron in France, Merkel expressed great relief at the outcome of the French election with Macron winning about two thirds of the vote, setting the stage for the election in Germany after several months of difficult watching and waiting. Now there is new confidence in Germany shaping its own future, with France and the rest of the European Union without Britain. Merkel says she "experienced this" meaning that she had undergone a transformation in these few months, and visibly in the last few days. She was also sending a message to Germans and people of the European Union - "we have to know that we must fight for our future on our own, for our destiny as Europeans." This also complements tactically to form the approach of Germany and France at the leadership of the EU, as French president Macron said at the end of the Group of 7 conference that multilateralism was intact, and the U.S. and EU shared many common goals.   ...

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A group of oil producing countries led by Saudi Arabia and Russia stall progress on climate change goals at the conference in Belem, Brazil. Even deforestation goals are left out. A standoff between European nations and oil producing countries leads to lack of agreement on how to phase out fossil fuels. The US is not present.  

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NYT shows action being taken for climate change mitigation in Singapore which can be useful in the US and other places. Much of it has to do with trees and greenery restoration and free flow of air. Dense urban areas of Singapore can be 10 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than rural areas nearby creating sweltering heat for longer parts of the year. Singapore is seeing twice the accelerated effect of climate and is taking action. When one cuts trees down and replaces the cooling effect of trees with cement and asphalt to build cities. Large high rise buildings keep air from flowing freely creating pockets of heat. Waste heat comes from exhaust of gas cars and airconditioners. Everything in the way we build cities is creating climate change.

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Negotiations between European leaders, especially Germany's Merkel and the Obama administration on climate change at G8 meeting. The U.S. and Europe try to work out differences. The U.S. is vague about some language such as the starting year against which emissions reductions will be measured, and has resisted the European pressure to set strong goals over the next 10 years. Europe wants 1990, while the USA, Australia and Japan prefer 2005. Europe wants to see language in aformal document that is being developed for the G-8 meeting, which also includes developing countries, for limiting the rise in global temperatures to 2 degrees celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above pre-industrial levels.

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Denmark's efforts backfire on Greenland. EU leaders have failed to separate Denmark's actions as a former colonial power in which it acquired Greenland in the Treaty of Kiel 1813 with Sweden and England during the Napoleonic Wars. And EU leaders have bought into Danish views designed to maintain control of Greenland that talk of the tribal population of about 50,000 over an island the size of Canada- smaller than would fit into a baseball stadium- that is largely unpopulated because of the sheet of ice all year round in the Arctic region. Much of the North of Greenland was first explored by the US Navy under Admiral Perry in the 1890's. Denmark has done little to develop the island or improve lives for the native Inuit. Secretary of State Seward wanted Greenland during the Alaska Purchase 1867 and it was sought by the US in 1900's, again in 1947 for $100 million by US president Harry Truman. It is "unwise" as Secretary Bessent has said for EU leaders to accept the canard that this is somehow just DJT's idea, and ignore it is essential for US security, it is part of the Western Hemisphere to which the Monroe Doctrine applies, and climate change melting ice has made it critical for US policy to address this gap in US security for the eastern seaboard of the US. For Denmark it is as the US commmanders in chief stated in 1947- "completely useless." ...