How is the US not the problem? We have the highest per capita CO2 emissions of any country, including China. Our emissions have also increased in the last year. Did you know China actually decreased their emissions the last 5 or so years, until the most recent year? China is not expected to have "massive" increases, their population is starting to demand less pollution.
God forbid we pay more money for goods to insure future generations have a healthy planet to live on. What a horrible trade off! Before we started buying everything from China, goods here were more expensive. We survived then, we'll survive it again. I rather buy stuff made in the USA anyway.
I much rather the government spend money subsidizing industries that create goods that improve our lives than, lets say, $200 plastic screwdrivers for the military. We're spending close to 700 billion a year in defense, please don't tell me subsidizing the solar industry is "unsustainable" when it's peanuts in comparison. I don't have access to APC's finances, I can't tell you why their rates didn't increase much. As I said above, if I have to wear an extra layer in the winter, or use more fans in summer to keep my energy costs down in order protect the planet for future generations, I'm willing to make that "tremendous" sacrifice. We are so freaking spoiled in this country.
You may understand the scientific method, but you have a hard time separating the "wheat from the chaff" so to speak. I know plenty of people in STEM fields that I work with that have the same problem, doesn't mean they aren't intelligent, it just means their own biases overwhelm their ability to think critically about this particular subject. Please link these peer reviewed scientific studies that are "politically motivated" that later revealed what they truly are, I would love to read them. Yes, Big Oil is contributing a lot into green energy because a smart company diversifies their portfolio, they know there will continue to be more and more pressure on the oil and gas industry. They're actively working to protect their current product while creating new ones for the probable future, that's smart business.
Well if the climate isn't changing the climate is in a steady state. It's a hypothetical situation, so let's say in 40 years. So this is what I was saying above, you may be an intelligent person, you may even be in a STEM profession, and you may have incredible knowledge into science and scientific method, but that doesn't matter if you can't see through your own bias and the bias of others. That article you just linked, did you even read it? Did you even read the scientific journal they cited? Did you research the author of the article to see his background? Or did you just do a quick google search, skimmed the article, saw it supported your opinion, and assumed it was 100% factual? You do see that as being a problem right? Well I did everything above and this is what I found, and it's usually what you find with virtually every single "anti climate change" article.
Let's start with the Author, James Taylor. First and foremost, he isn't a journalist, he doesn't work for Forbes, this is an opinion piece. He's the president of the "Spark of Freedom Foundation", he absolutely has no science background, he actually has a government background, and the company he runs is a senior fellow for the environment and energy policy at The Heartland Institute. So already we know we have someone writing an article who isn't a journalist, who isn't a scientist, who runs a heavily biased political organization who gets massive donations from the oil and gas companies, his opinion doesn't get any more biased than that. But he does cite a real peer reviewed scientific journal! So let's read it. The context of the article on Forbes seems to indicate that a study was done that indicated that the majority of scientists and engineers do not believe in anthropogenic climate change. What does the actual study say though?
"We reconstructed the frames of one group of experts who have not received much attention in previous research and yet play a central role in understanding industry responses – professional experts in petroleum and related industries"
WAIT! HOLD ON A SECOND! If this isn't raising all the red flags for you, it should. The research specifically ONLY interviewed experts in the petroleum and related industries, not only did they not interview a single scientist that actually studies atmospheric science, they explicitly only interviewed unrelated professionals in the primary industry that is fighting against climate science. What's even more astounding is that according to that research 36% say that anthropogenic climate change is real, 17% said that climate change is happening but they think we're screwed so there's nothing we can do, and 5% said they weren't sure but greenhouse gases needed to be regulated. That's 58% that acknowledge climate change is real and happening, 58% of people working in the oil and gas industry! The article on Forbes doesn't mention any of that because it was written by a pawn that is trying to manipulate you into thinking something that simply isn't true. The oil and gas companies are literally paying people to put out articles like this to keep people skeptical. Fool you once shame on them, fool you twice.... well you won't let them fool you again right? You do understand science as you said.
So now we know the article you posted is, well, a complete lie, what's the real scientific consensus on climate change? It's 97% of scientists publishing in the climate science field. So you're telling me that the only way you would accept this is something that is actually happening is that if it's 100%? That's like saying "I have this weird lump I had checked out, 97 doctors said it was cancer, 3 said it was nothing, it wasn't 100% so I guess I'll just ignore it". But that's just absurd right? Here's an article from NASA proving what I just said, along with direct quotes from several scientific societies, they have cited peer reviewed research into the scientific consensus. Don't take my word for it though, you should read through them yourself if you're skeptical in the accuracy of the article.
Scientific Consensus | Facts – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet
So we have come to the conclusion, through peer reviewed scientific research, that there is an absence of a majority of scientists disagreeing with anthropogenic climate change. So welcome aboard! It took some time, way too much time on my part, but I'm glad we got you here.