The Guardian view on Donald Trump and the climate crisis: the US is in reverse while China ploughs ahead | Editorial

"Devastating wildfires, flooding and winter storms were among the 23 extreme weather and climate-related disasters in the US which cost more than a billion dollars last year at an estimated total loss of $115bn. The last three years have shattered previous records for such events. Last Wednesday, scientists said that we are closer than ever to the point after which global heating cannot be stopped."

"Just one day later, Donald Trump and Lee Zeldin, the head of the US Environmental Protection Agency, announced the elimination of the Obama-era endangerment finding which underpins federal climate regulations. Scrapping it is just one part of Mr Trump's assault on environmental controls and promotion of fossil fuels. But it may be his most consequential. Any fragment of hope may lie in the fact that a president who has called global heating a hoax framed this primarily as about deregulation."

"In the same week as this reckless and destructive US decision, it emerged that China had recorded its 21st month of flat or slightly falling carbon emissions. As Washington tears up environmental regulations, Beijing is extending carbon reporting requirements. China remains the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, though its per capita and cumulative historical emissions are still far behind those of the US. But clean energy drove more than 90% of its investment growth last year."

Twenty-three extreme weather and climate-related disasters in the United States each cost more than a billion dollars last year, producing an estimated total loss of $115bn. The last three years have set new records for such events. Humanity is closer than ever to a point after which global heating cannot be stopped. The US administration eliminated the Obama-era endangerment finding that underpins federal climate regulations, framing the move as deregulation and claiming $1.3tn in savings without evidence. Meanwhile, China reported 21 months of flat or slightly falling carbon emissions and expanded carbon reporting while clean energy drove most investment growth.

Read at www.theguardian.com