The common fruit fly which lives one to two months, suggesting insignificance has changed the world through medical research, leading to eight Nobel prizes in human genetics and disease prevention breakthroughs. Today an even smaller organism, Coronavirus, is changing the world even more significantly.
And confronting it with the same opportunity for breakthroughs as scientists treated fruit flies could hold the key to solving our greatest challenge climate change.
Of course, all of the coronaviruses impacts sickness, deaths, economic crises have been negative. But, like the scientists who saw something unique in the fruit fly instead of just an unwelcome pest, coronavirus offers us a unique opportunity: visceral lessons in how to approach future crises, and the horrible costs of not doing so.
First among those lessons is taking authoritative warnings seriously, even when that may result in tough decisions. We have been warned repeatedly over the last decade that a pandemic was an existential threat to our way of life. At the end of 2019, when the late Chinese doctor Li Wenliang first reported his alarm over a coronavirus outbreak, authorities detained him for spreading rumors. If they had acted on his warning, the spread in China would have been less severe.
But by January 21, 2020 China had 278 confirmed cases, other countries had 282, and the World Health Organization issued its first coronavirus advisory. Instead of preparing for the virus inevitable spread to the United States, President Donald Trump downplayed the risk, comparing it to a bad case of the flu. Two months later, tens of thousands of Americans have tested positive for the virus and millions more are under shelter-in-place rules, threatening to send the global economy into a devastating tailspin.
Unfortunately, weve consistently made these same mistakes of ignoring scientific warnings when dealing with other global crises, especially climate change. Beginning in June 1988, when climate scientist James Hansen warned Congress that global warming had begun, climate scientists predictions have repeatedly and increasingly warned of impending crises, and how climate change is accelerating faster than expected much like the Coronavirus. Sadly, the government response has ranged from non-existent to lacking.
Thirty years after Hansens warning, President Trump dismissed an official U.S. government assessment of climate changes risks in 2018, saying I dont believe it. As temperatures have risen, so too has the cost of inaction. From 1979 to 2017, the cost of global climate change-related disasters has increased 150%, costing $2.25 trillion, with the U.S. bearing the brunt of the financial pain at $945 billion nearly twice Chinas second-highest total of $492 billion.
Fortunately, in the battle against coronavirus, countries like South Korea that embrace science-based health warnings and act decisively are able to flatten the curve of the coronavirus spread to reduce infections and deaths. But when it comes to climate change, despite global accords such as the Paris Agreement, the world is still struggling to act decisively and in unison.
The Trump administration stands out with its rejection of science-based climate change policy, compounding decades of foot dragging by rolling back and undermining Obama administration efforts to rein in and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from coal, oil, and auto tailpipes. As of the end of 2019, a New York Times analysis identified 95 environmental rules that are being rolled back by the White House.
A key Trump environmental program roll back is expected to be finalized by the end of March. The administration is relaxing the auto greenhouse gas and fuel economy standards that President Obama announced in 2012. The first national program to reduce transportation greenhouse gas emissions, it was based on science, engineering capabilities, business capacities, as well as environmental and health benefits. It would have doubled fuel economy to 54.5 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2025, eliminated 6 billion tons of carbon dioxide, and saved consumers $1.7 trillion at the pump. It appeared the U.S. was finally listening to climate scientists.
But in early 2017 with Trump at the helm, the auto industry, amidst several years of record sales and profits, found an opportunity to renege on its commitment to the standards and asked the White House to relax the Obama administrations standards. After extensive analysis, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys scientists and auto engineers had recently re-affirmed the program. But facts were no longer in control of the process.
The final rule targets the standards for the 2021-2026 period. It is widely expected to pull back the standards to 37 mpg and reduce the annual fuel economy improvement to 1.5%, down from the current 5%.
Here is the rub. Transportation is now the fastest growing sector driving increased U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Even the Obama administrations standards, which the Trump administration is trying to scale back, were never enough to address this gorilla in the room. A landmark study by the National Academy of Science in 2013 calculated that the worlds entire fleet of vehicles in 2025 would have to average around 180 mpg to limit warming to safe levels. As detailed in my book, Driving the Future, if we achieved the original 2025 target and enacted rules to continue the 5% annual improvement curve through 2050, we would only reach 80% of the target required to meet the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes (IPCC) earlier target of 2C target of safe warming and the gap will be even greater to reach the new IPCC target of 1.5C.
The only pathway to reaching the IPCCs targets is transportation electrification. The administration should abandon the new rules they are developing, leave the current rules in place and begin work on the post 2025 standards. The auto industry has four to five year planning horizons and needs policy certainty. The world needs to avoid the scale of disruptions that climate change will bring even if the slow pace is deceiving.
The current coronavirus crisis has produced one near-miracle: The bitterly partisan U.S. Congress and federal government are quickly negotiating emergency legislation to deal with the public health and economic crises. Hopefully, reliance on science-based health measures will now guide the countrys approach to combatting coronavirus. And, while the world awaits the worst yet to come in coronavirus infections and deaths, the lessons from this pandemic could result in an approach to bi-partisan, scientifically driven commitment to combat climate change.
Like the seemingly insignificant fruit fly, confronting greenhouse gas and fuel economy standards could produce outsized breakthroughs on climate change. Like the coronavirus, listening to scientific warnings about climate change before it is too late could prevent outsized public health and economic tragedies.
And no, this is not a dream. The reality of global disruption is staring us all in the face. Blinking is not an option.
See the original post here:
The Coronavirus Pandemic Shows Us The Importance Of Combatting Climate Change - Forbes
- June 11th At Westport, CT: Federal Red Flags, HIPAA Security Rules and Fraud Prevention - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Do not learn Dvorak! - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- You Can’t Solve Problems By Making It Illegal To Have The Problem - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- A Force Fix for Healthcare - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Yahble, HIT, Bubblecon, BIZDEV!, Solid State - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- 15 things that suck about the Palm Pre - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- What an Indie Genomics Lab Looks Like - November 7th, 2009 [November 7th, 2009]
- Practice Fusion: Class D Felony? - February 26th, 2010 [February 26th, 2010]
- Practice Fusion Responds - March 7th, 2010 [March 7th, 2010]
- Practice Fusion: Do the math: $44,000 is a LIE - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- How Much Until Doctors Approve of 23andMe? - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- Biochemicals as Media, Not Methods - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- More Practice Fusion Reality Distortion - March 10th, 2010 [March 10th, 2010]
- Same Test Results: 23andMe is Myriad is BRCA is Medicine - March 12th, 2010 [March 12th, 2010]
- BRCA is 23andMe is Myriad is Medicine - March 13th, 2010 [March 13th, 2010]
- Getting Serious About Genomics as Common Medical Practice - March 15th, 2010 [March 15th, 2010]
- The New John Mackey of Genetics: Linda Avey? - March 15th, 2010 [March 15th, 2010]
- Keep the Medical, Well, Medical - March 16th, 2010 [March 16th, 2010]
- If 23andMe shuts down, it won’t be for some mundane reason like the bills weren’t paid - March 16th, 2010 [March 16th, 2010]
- If I Run A Medical Practice, How Do I Use A 23andMe? - March 17th, 2010 [March 17th, 2010]
- 23andMe Contract in Bad Faith - March 19th, 2010 [March 19th, 2010]
- Doctors CANNOT Use 23andMe Due To 23andMe’s Bad Faith Contract - March 20th, 2010 [March 20th, 2010]
- Pathway Compared to 23andMe and Navigenics - March 22nd, 2010 [March 22nd, 2010]
- There’s a Word for “Views Differ” When One View Is The State - March 24th, 2010 [March 24th, 2010]
- Association for Molecular Pathology, et al. v. USPTO, et al. – Opinion - March 29th, 2010 [March 29th, 2010]
- Birth of a Super Villain - April 3rd, 2010 [April 3rd, 2010]
- “Medical Products” like 23andMe must not become the new “Financial Products” - April 4th, 2010 [April 4th, 2010]
- How I Would Apply Genomic Technology In Clinical Use Today - April 5th, 2010 [April 5th, 2010]
- Gmail Enterprise: World’s Best EMR - April 6th, 2010 [April 6th, 2010]
- Brief Primer on Health Law Compliance - April 9th, 2010 [April 9th, 2010]
- Spoiler: You ARE the “Valids” - April 9th, 2010 [April 9th, 2010]
- Rachel Lehmann-Haupt Line by Line Take Down - April 9th, 2010 [April 9th, 2010]
- Is Medicare Bankrupt? What the Hell Is Going On? - April 17th, 2010 [April 17th, 2010]
- The Big Shuffle: Medicare Cuts Rates by 21.3% (but not “technically”) - April 17th, 2010 [April 17th, 2010]
- “Tech Hiring Binge” == “Fear for Your Job, Nerds” - April 18th, 2010 [April 18th, 2010]
- How Bad is Bad? $.20 on the Private Medical Insurance Dollar - April 20th, 2010 [April 20th, 2010]
- Update: How Bad is Bad? It Used to Be $.45 on the Medical Insurance Dollar - April 20th, 2010 [April 20th, 2010]
- World’s Best “EMR” for $1000: Google Spreadsheets + iPad - April 21st, 2010 [April 21st, 2010]
- Don’t Insult Me with your “AOL Keyword” Strategy, Google Health - April 21st, 2010 [April 21st, 2010]
- How to Play LAWGAMES - April 23rd, 2010 [April 23rd, 2010]
- Top 4 Predatory Schemes Encroaching on American Medicine: Part 1 - April 25th, 2010 [April 25th, 2010]
- What’s the Big Deal About iPads? - April 27th, 2010 [April 27th, 2010]
- Got Google Android for Google I/O - April 27th, 2010 [April 27th, 2010]
- Google Enterprise meets HIPAA and HITECH Compliant Laws - April 29th, 2010 [April 29th, 2010]
- Pixels of Accuracy CHALENGE: Diagnostic Medical Imaging - April 29th, 2010 [April 29th, 2010]
- 23andMe Launder AlioGenetics Doesn’t Even Bother to Remove 23andMe Logo - April 30th, 2010 [April 30th, 2010]
- Anthem of CT Denies $600 Until “Subscriber Responds to our Coordination of Benefits Questionnaire” - May 1st, 2010 [May 1st, 2010]
- Apple And Google Team Up To Launch Revolutionary Mobile Health System - May 1st, 2010 [May 1st, 2010]
- Funny Pictures from This Year Building the Medical Practice - May 6th, 2010 [May 6th, 2010]
- Remote Medical Video Monitoring on iPad and iPhone - May 7th, 2010 [May 7th, 2010]
- Google Calendar Overhead Waiting Room Display - May 7th, 2010 [May 7th, 2010]
- Various Whiteboards on Solid State Medical Operations - May 7th, 2010 [May 7th, 2010]
- The Raw Facts about Counsyl - May 7th, 2010 [May 7th, 2010]
- Brawndo: Still Mutilating Thirst, Still Not Yet Sold at the Stop-n-Shop Pharmacy - May 9th, 2010 [May 9th, 2010]
- Video: Google Enterprise to Outsource Medical Administration - May 9th, 2010 [May 9th, 2010]
- Gattaca: “The Matrix” of Genomics - May 11th, 2010 [May 11th, 2010]
- 23andMe Now Diagnoses Fatal Tay-Sachs Disease - May 12th, 2010 [May 12th, 2010]
- Why Was Pathway Targeted for FDA Enforcement and Not 23andMe? - May 15th, 2010 [May 15th, 2010]
- John Dolan on Aging and the Horrifying Conclusion of GWAS - May 16th, 2010 [May 16th, 2010]
- Sam R. Riley Wants To Tell You About Practice Fusion - May 17th, 2010 [May 17th, 2010]
- Response to “Genomic Medicine: Lost” - May 19th, 2010 [May 19th, 2010]
- Death And Taxes: CMS to IRS - May 19th, 2010 [May 19th, 2010]
- Please Stop Antagonizing the AMA - May 26th, 2010 [May 26th, 2010]
- Dan Vorhaus, Attorney At Law, Legally Advises Medical Doctors Can Use 23andMe To Provide Medical Advice - May 28th, 2010 [May 28th, 2010]
- Singularity Summit 2010 in San Francisco to Explore Intelligence Augmentation - June 7th, 2010 [June 7th, 2010]
- OpenPCR: DNA amplification for anyone - June 10th, 2010 [June 10th, 2010]
- FDA sends letters to 5 genetic testing companies - June 11th, 2010 [June 11th, 2010]
- Amazon And The NIH Team Up To Put Human Genome In The Cloud - March 31st, 2012 [March 31st, 2012]
- ReproSource Comments on New Study Linking Infertility to Genetics - April 25th, 2012 [April 25th, 2012]
- Genetics 101 Part 1: What are genes? - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Red Ice Radio - David Icke - Hour 1 - The Manipulation of Humanity - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Genetics Part 5: Human Genetic Disorders - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- C2CAM - The Nephilim, Genetic Manipulation - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Human Nature talk with Robert Sapolsky, Gabor Mate, James Gilligan, Richard Wilkinson - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Human Genetic Diseases - Video - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Alien Scientist on Genetics, Implants - April 30th, 2012 [April 30th, 2012]
- Research and Markets: Genetics, 6th Edition International Student Version Continues To Educate Today's Students for ... - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Myriad Genetics to Present at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2012 Health Care Conference - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- Genetics may explain some people's dislike of meat - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]
- 'Blond Genes' May Vary Around the World - May 4th, 2012 [May 4th, 2012]