Addressing Global Warming: As the world moves forward, the U.S. lags

21st century farming: A windfarm. Europe dominates in offshore windfarms. Asia dominates in land-based windfarms.

First published October 25, 2025

Clean energy is growing world-wide, decreasing the demand for fossil fuels. According to an independent clean energy research analytical group, EMBER, the first sign of a crucial turning point worldwide was the replacement of fossil fuel use by renewable energy sources in early 2025. China has added more solar and wind energy sources then the rest of the world combined. Fossil fuel generation has fallen in both China and India. In transportation and industry, fossil fuels are still dominant, but the use of electric vehicles, heat pumps and battery energy storage is growing significantly.

Companies require the cheaper and faster power that renewables provide. The purchasing power of business is demanding these adaptations. Governments will lose business to more competitive markets if they do not move adroitly to renewables. In the first quarter of 2025, solar, wind, and nuclear power have increased and global fossil fuel use has decreased, the latter decrease for the first time. Solar and wind are the cheapest sources of electrical energy and, thus, have become competitive with coal and gas.

California is a prime example of what is possible through energy efficiency. The State has added enormous amounts of wind, solar and battery storage. The two leading clean energy states in the U.S. are California and Texas; but the average Californian uses 40% of the electricity of the average Texan because of the state’s energy efficiency measures. It is theoretically possible that the US could match or exceed the dramatic increase in renewable energy and the drop in the proportion of fossil fuel use seen in China in the first half of 2025, but the current U.S. administration is moving in the other direction, encouraging coal and gas use; demeaning wind. The data from EMBER indicate the transition to clean energy is unstoppable and the trend away from fossil fuel will continue and increase. More than half the world’s economies are past the peak of fossil fuel use.

A dominant two political party system in the United States is essential to our democracy and governing for all the people’s benefit. The shift from one party to another’s leadership in the presidency or the houses of congress should not be cataclysmic. There has to be a shared center. The shared vision of what makes America great is not either sides view alone. There has to be a mutual agreed sense based on the best minds applied to the task. This administration’s platform favors deregulation, eliminating environmental protections and providing incentives for fossil fuel use. There is no mention of climate change, pollution, or greenhouse gases. It is reminiscent of the views of “The Flat Earth Society”! 

We cannot achieve vital goals to sustain the health of our planet and its inhabitants, if we have a dumbing down of government agencies. For example, the current administrations actions are to: (i) damage and impede the progress of our great research-intensive universities, (ii) inhibit the movement of potential great minds from abroad to the United States, (iii) impede scientific inquiry in many fields, (iv) decrease biomedical research, broadly, formerly built on a vigorous partnership among government, academia and industry, (v) damage our exceptional public health agencies, (vi) make healthcare less affordable and, thus, less accessible, (vii) disincentivizing the best and the brightest from considering, entering and thriving in government service and (viii) fostering anti-intellectualism and foregoing insightful reasoning in our decision making in many fields vital to the well-being of our people.

In early 1941, Henry Luce described the need for our country to enter “the American Century”, which according to his prescription did occur from the beginning of World War II to the end of the Cold War, when the United States had global political, economic, and military dominance. It prescribed, and presciently described, the era when American industrial power, trade, and cultural influence were dominant, shaping world affairs through its internationalist policies and commitments. We should revitalize our world leadership through rational national and international behavior, based on sound analysis and science, ethical behavior, inclusiveness and generosity of spirit.