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America back in the Paris Agreement — but in the world, cleaned its basic passive index
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then she added, “We know by now that Paris is fund of coal, oil and gas stocks, the companies
nowhere near enough. Even if all the countries were essentially rendered off-limits to normal
followed all the promises made in that accord, investors. As protesters began cutting up their
the temperature would still rise more than 3°C Chase bank cards, the biggest lender to the
(5°F or 6°F). If we let the planet warm that much, fossil-fuel industry suddenly decided green
we won’t be able to have civilizations like the investments made more sense. Even the staid
ones we’re used to. So we’re going to make the insurance industry began refusing to underwrite
Redefining America
changes we need to make, and we’re going to new oil and gas pipelines — and shorn of its
make them fast.” easy access to capital, the industry was also
Fast, of course, is a word that doesn’t really shorn of much of its political influence. Every
apply to Capitol Hill or most of the world’s quarter meant fewer voters who mined coal and
other Congresses, Parliaments and Central more who installed solar panels, and that made
Committees. It took constant demonstrations political change even easier.
from ever larger groups like Extinction As America’s new leaders began trying to 10
Rebellion, and led by young activists especially mend fences with other nations, climate action
from the communities suffering the most, to proved to be a crucial way to rebuild diplomatic
ensure that politicians feared an angry electorate trust. China and India had their own reasons
more than an angry carbon lobby. But America, for wanting swift action — mostly, the fact that
which historically had poured more carbon into smog-choked cities and ever deadlier heat
the atmosphere than any other nation, did cease waves were undermining the stability of the
blocking progress. With the filibuster removed, ruling regimes. When Beijing announced that its
the Senate passed — by the narrowest of Belt and Road Initiative would run on renewable
margins — one bill after another to end subsidies energy, not coal, the energy future of much of
for coal and gas and oil companies, began to Asia changed overnight. When India started
tax the carbon they produced, and acted on the mandating electric cars and scooters for urban
basic principles of the Green New Deal: funding areas, the future of the internal-combustion
the rapid deployment of solar panels and wind engine was largely sealed. Teslas continued to
turbines, guaranteeing federal jobs for anyone attract upscale Americans, but the real numbers
who wanted that work, and putting an end to came from lower-priced electric cars pouring
drilling and mining on federal lands. out of Asian factories. That was enough to finally
Since those public lands trailed only convince even Detroit that a seismic shift was
China, the U.S., India and Russia as a source of under way: when the first generation of Ford
carbon, that was a big deal. Its biggest impact E-150 pickups debuted, with ads demonstrating
was on Wall Street, where investors began to their unmatched torque by showing them
treat fossil-fuel stocks with increasing disdain. towing a million-pound locomotive, only the
When BlackRock, the biggest money manager most unreconstructed motorheads were
still insisting on the superiority of gas-
powered rides.
2 An international agreement to limit the increase of the global Other easy technological gains came in
average temperature. As of February 2019, 194 national states our homes. After a century of keeping a tank of
and the European Union have signed the agreement. Of those, oil or gas in the basement for heating, people
187 and the European Union have ratified it. The United States
announced in 2017 that it would withdraw from the agreement quickly discovered the appeal of air-source heat
as soon as it was eligible to do so. — Eds. pumps, which turned the heat of the outdoors
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