Conservation Notes: Man-made climate change accelerates

By Tom Molloy

This year now ended is sadly another one for the climate disaster record books. Such disasters include, to name a few:

• The unprecedented concurrent wildfires in the east and west sides of the Los Angeles metro area after an autumn and early winter with no rain. The fires destroyed over 16,000 homes and killed between 31 and 440 people, depending on how you measure.
• The deadly floods on the Guadalupe River in Texas, from atmospheric moisture created by record heating of the Gulf of Mexico.
• Hurricane Melissa, clocking record 252 mph wind gusts, due to an overheated Caribbean.
• Vietnam recording 5 feet of rain in a 24 hour period, the second largest rainfall in recorded history.

Given these events and that 2023, 2024 and 2025 were the warmest years on record, one would imagine that the United States — the world’s largest source of emissions after China — would lead the world toward solutions to the crisis.

Instead, the 30th global climate talks in Brazil, which recently ended, had nobody from the Trump regime in attendance. Worse, the Trump regime, among it’s avalanche of disastrous climate and environmental changes, including unleashing oil drilling, is opening up vast areas for coal mining, and ending laws intended to reduce methane emissions from gas wells. He told world leaders at a recent UN meeting: “If you don’t get away from this green energy scam, your country is going to fail.” Fortunately, with his low approval rating, such comments may not gain much traction. As of this writing, Trump’s approval rating is 34% globally, 39% in the US.

The New Yorker, writing extensively about the topic, calls 2025 the low point of human action on the climate crisis. In its anti-science push, the Trump regime has shut down some organizations and satellites that monitor carbon emissions and climate.

Meanwhile, NPR reported in December that Trump is eliminating the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards intended to lower vehicle emissions. The rules required vehicles, on average per manufacturer, to get 2% more efficient every year. Trump’s war on electric vehicles persists as well. Thankfully, despite all this, Americans in 2025 shifted towards smaller, more affordable vehicles due to rising costs and economic pressures they are facing.

The New Yorker also reports on a trend that can garner optimism for the future despite the Trump regime’s current assault on the environment and climate. Renewable energy has set records globally in 2025. While the U.S. installed 21 gigawatts total in the first three quarters of 2025, China has been installing an average of three gigawatts of solar capacity per day, breaking its own records, surpassing its 2030 targets. Reuters reported in July that 50% of newly installed electric capacity in the most populous countries ran on something other then fossil fuels. Despite U.S. inaction and worse, much of the world, including many American states acting independently, are moving forward.