Scientists have finally solved an environmental mystery.
After following the trail of a gaseous emission that has been banned for over 30 years, they found the culprit: factories in the People’s Republic of China.
On top of under-reporting carbon emissions and downplaying the poor air quality, a new study in the scientific journal Nature found that 40 to 60% of total global emissions of the chemical compound Trichlorofluoromethane, better known as CFC-11, came from China, specifically the eastern province of Shandong. The mystery was solved a year after scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association discovered that global emissions of the chemical compound Trichlorofluoromethane rose by 25% since 2012.
So just how damaging is Trichlorofluoromethane to the environment?
Trichlorofluoromethane is a chemical used in refrigeration and foams, which causes significant ozone layer depletion. In fact, CFC-11 has an ozone depletion potential of 1.0, the highest of any chlorocarbon because it has three chlorine atoms in the molecule. It’s 5,000 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The compound was on a list of chemicals to be phased out in manufacturing and production under the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which the United States followed through on in January 1996.
This is not good for the planet. It’s also a very, shall we say, inconvenient truth, for a lot of environmentalists on the Left.
Go back to June 2017, when President Trump announced his intention to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, he was roundly criticized by climate change activists, members of the media, and world leaders.
Amid all the criticism of Trump’s move, a favorite line was that China was becoming a leader in fighting climate change.
Former Vice President Al Gore told ABC News, “The rest of the world is moving on climate […] China’s reduced emissions four years in a row. We’re seeing a massive shift in solar and wind.”
Former California Gov. Jerry Brown justified his state working separately with China after Trump backed out of the Paris climate agreement by saying, “We’re going to do more with China, and we’re going to link closely together because it used to be China and the United States as the pillar. Now China is that pillar and California is very much going to be working with them to achieve our mutual goals.”
Former Obama administration official John Kirby said, “In just the last 15 years, there’s 2.5 million jobs in the United States dedicated to the clean energy industry and that number is continuing to climb and that’s the future and that’s where frankly look that’s where China wants to go. So, we’re going to be losing jobs here in the United States. We’re going to be hurting our economy. And we’ll be ceding that territory to China going forward.”
And it didn’t stop there.
The Washington Post declared “As U.S. backs away from climate pledges, India and China step up.” A CBS News headline read, “U.S. withdrawal from Paris accord offers China chance to lead world on climate change.” And Bloomberg News declared, “China, Germany Step Up as U.S. Retires from World Leadership.” The New York Times even ranked China as the top country for “filling the void” of being a climate change leader.
Recent news suggests that if the U.S. were to regulate emissions more strictly, it wouldn’t be following China, but would be sending lots of manufacturing toward China, which would hurt both the planet and America’s interests around the world.
