Op-Ed: The So-Called International Climate Deal is Nothing More than Reparations to Poor Countries

By Steve Levy

With great fanfare, national representatives meeting at a climate conference in Egypt gave each other high-fives as they announced the framework of a new climate deal that will supposedly save the planet. In actuality, it’s a virtue signaling joke.

The deal reiterates the goal of nations to cobble together $100 billion to fight climate change and calls for wealthier nations to give money to poor nations - in part to make up for their past practices and in part to help the poorer countries to implement renewable energy systems.

Does anyone think these poor countries are going to funnel money to more expensive renewable energy when their bigger concern is preventing their people from starving ?

Of course, this plan will assume that it is the United States that comes up with the lion’s share of these reparations. Liberals like John Kerry will be jumping through hoops to make that happen.

Meanwhile, China is exempt from giving money or curbing emissions and is still being classified as a "developing nation" even though it is the world‘s second richest nation, and pollutes more than any other country.

From 2004 to 2019 the world's carbon footprint increased 26% - although carbon output in the US dropped 14%. This was primarily due to America's increased use of cleaner natural gas to replace coal.

The US only has about 15 coal plants remaining. Even if we closed all of them, it would not even be a blip on the world carbon footprint. That’s because China has thousands of coal plants - and continues to build thousands more each year.

We should indeed continue our foreign aid packages. But we should tie them to human rights, the rejection of terrorism, and the receiving nation’s partnership with our nation.

The hundred billion being discussed will probably never come to fruition. If it does, it should be spent on eliminating poverty, not being placed into so-called climate projects of dubious worth.

The best way to solve the climate problem on the planet is to promote newer technology that makes renewables cheaper.

Then these countries will gravitate toward these renewable energy systems on their own, without the need to ineffectively bribe them to do so.