At the same time, my inbox was filling up with press releases from environmental organizations warning that the globe is warming at a rate that will mean unbearable heatwaves, extreme flooding and economically devastating droughts. The solution would not just require substituting sustainable fuels for fossil fuels but also technological leaps — tools that could actually pull CO2 out of the atmosphere.
The supposition as to whether the United States is the most superior country to occupy the planet is obviously a subjective one. To get to a conclusion, one needs to have a profound sense of history and to have traveled the globe. Certainly the country’s economy is now to be envied while its military is the most powerful to have ever graced the earth — all of which is enabled by the acceleration of advanced technologies.
But do great countries ignore the environmental albatross around the world’s neck? Or do true leaders tackle the findings of 97% of all climate scientists and join the international quest to find solutions? Greatness, after all, is not about winning at everyone else’s expense.
As far as West Virginia’s 3rd congressional district, the contest is between a retired army major and the namesake to one of the state’s most successful car dealerships. Both Richard Ojeda, the Democrat, and Carol Miller, the Republican, are in the state legislature. Ojeda has literally gotten the crap kicked out of him — not just while he was running for office but also on the battlefield in Iraq. He said that the military was his only career choice out of high school, which has shown him the world and taught him that America can improve itself. Miller, who is polished and unsoiled by mining, says that the United States is second to none. Who’s right?
“As a whole, the country may seem to be going to hell … Many people are discouraged by what they hear and read about America, but the closer they are to the action at home, the better they like what they see,” writes Jim Fallows in the Atlantic.
Keeping the Faith
After returning from a European trip in August, I ran into Jim and his wife Deborah on the riverfront in Charleston, W.V. Jim, who I have known for more than two decades and who had been a speech writer for President Jimmy Carter, was there to write about small town America as part of a much broader collection of stories. It’s a mission he’s been on for a few years.
When Donald Trump was first elected, Fallows had said this development was perhaps the low-point in the American experiment. But after his foray across the country, his mood perked up. However, at the international level, the disgust and anger targeted at President Trump are palpable — something to which I can personally attest as well. And at the national level, the nation has reverted to trench warfare and tribalism, which we have just seen with the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.
But despite the acrimony at the national and international levels, there is a rising faith in local governance, he says. Only a quarter of the people trust the federal government, Gallop says, but 70% trust their local representation.
How do you then reconcile the collapse of coal with the environmental threat posed by climate change? The simple answer is that policymakers, nationally, have to focus on the greatest good for the greatest number and that more resources must be targeted to those places that are now suffering — to create new opportunities with promising pathways.
“The way I think about this is that through American history, the economy has constantly changed,” Fallows said in an interview with CSPAN. In the 1880s, he explained that Americans were predominately farmers but that today, that number is 2% or less of the population. With Appalachian coal, he notes that its peak employment was a century ago in 1918. Despite that, coal production has steadily risen because of mechanization. Today, West Virginia has about 13,000 coal jobs.
Self Examination
This trend toward more green jobs would thus serve as a win-win — both to help local economies rebuild and to combat climate change. And education and the opportunities afforded by it are the key. Schools must not just teach the liberal arts and sciences but also prepare young minds for tomorrow’s jobs. The America of yesteryear is not coming back, ever.
More educational prowess and a greater reliance on green energies is needed now more than ever, especially because the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released on Monday says that keeping temperature increases to 1.5% by mid Century won’t be enough to avert environmental catastrophes. To make matters worse, at the current pace, such temperature rises could be greater than 3%.
“The difference in impacts between 1.5 and 2 degrees of warming is large, and potentially game changing,” Andrew Steer, chief executive of the World Resources Institute says. “And, the devastation that would come with today’s 3-4 degree Celsius trajectory would be vastly greater … We now know that accelerated climate action can lead to large economic benefits, including a $26 trillion win. But this will require the emergence of global leadership that is missing today.”
While the U.S. federal leadership mocks this predicament — in keeping with the Fallows’ theme — local governments are stepping up. To that end, more than 230 cities and towns are part of We Are Still In, which will observe the protocols set by the Paris climate agreement. And so will big business, including energy giants Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Exelon Corp., General Electric, PG&E Corp., Royal Dutch Shell and Tesla, all of which are voicing support for global climate goals.
Circling back to the central question of whether America remains on the cusp of eternal greatness or whether it has receded into the background, depends on whom is asked. But I think we can all agree that the country can strive to be better than it currently is. If we are to be “one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,” then it is a must.
