"It's cheaper to deal with the crisis of climate than it is to ignore it, says John Kerry. Let's explore his thought process.
Cheaper to Deal With It Now

Kerry's Comments

"There are countless economic analyses now that show it's now cheaper to deal with the crisis of climate than it is to ignore it."
"We spent $265 billion 2 years ago on 3 storms, Irma, Harvey, and Maria. Maria destroyed Puerto Rico. Harvey dropped more water on Houston in five days than goes over Niagara Falls in a year. And Irma had the first recorded winds of 185 miles an hour for 24 sustained hours."
"All of them were exacerbated by the last four years. Now we have to try to make up for that. That is a hard pull but this president is capable of doing it."
Straw Man Fallacies

Implied in Kerry's straw man analysis is implicit belief that addressing "climate change" would have prevented Irma, Harvey, Maria, and the wildfires in California.

Where is the CO2 coming from?

Annual CO2 Emissions2
CO2 Stats

Please note that the US reduced its carbon footprint from 6.13 billion tons in 2007 to 5.28 billion tons in 2019.
Meanwhile, China increased its footprint from 6.86 billion tons in 2019 to 10.17 billion tons in 2019.
In the same timeframe, global output rose from 31.29 billion tons to 36.44 billion tons.
In 2007, the US accounted for 19.6% of the total global carbon footprint.
In 2019, the US accounted for only 14.5% of the total global footprint.
The above stats are from Our World CO2 Emissions.

The US could eliminate its entire carbon footprint tomorrow and it would not even matter (except of course, the entire global economy would crash).

How Much Money is Needed?

Kerry did not say how much money he needed, only that we have to make up for the last four years. Lovely.

The implied assumption is we will quickly stop hurricanes by throwing money at the problem.

We better hurry too, because we lost four years. What a hoot.

AOC's Green New Deal Pricetag

Please recall AOC's Green New Deal Pricetag of $51 to $93 Trillion vs. Cost of Doing Nothing

Climate Change Religion

Climate change is a religion. I doubt I can change any minds about what is happening,

But politicians don't solve problems so it is unwise to have any faith in their proposed solutions. If there is a solution, the free market will find it.

If after reading this, you think the US can spend enough to stop hurricanes that have been happening for billions of years, you need to have your head examined.

What You Can Do

At the personal level, if you are still devoted to addressing climate change, I have some practical suggestions: Don't fly; don't drive; don't have kids; Don't eat and don't breathe.

The latter is especially important. CO2 comes out with every breath. Having kids is the single worst thing you can do.

Are you still committed to the cause?"

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