I thought I would start this week’s climate change blog post with a current event. You have probably heard of the Texas power-outage crisis, or seen memes of Texans reacting to snowfall. This past week, a massive snow storm caused 4 million Texans to go without power and electricity. Seeing as temperatures were freezing, this was especially problematic for elderly, poor, and disabled residents. While it does snow in Texas, storms are few and far between. This left the state unprepared for their most recent storm. 47 have died as a result.

A similar show of unpreparedness happened in California amidst a series of wildfires. The state saw similar widespread blackouts and 33 people died.

Whether you’re in the oil-rich southern states or the renewable energy advocate states of the west coast, you have one thing in common: climate change. Seeing as California’s emphasis on green energy policies was not enough to deter the effects of climate change, just how successful has the green movement been?

The modern environmental movement started around the 1960’s when the affects of climate change were brought to the attention of the public. Oil spills, fires, property damage, and natural disasters increased concern about climate change. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was a book detailing the impact of DDT and other insecticides on animal populations. The book gained a lot of attention and people began to question its accuracy. After the claims were verified by President JFK’s Science Advisory Committee, DDT was banned in the U.S. in 1972. The first list of Endangered Species, later followed by the Endangered Species Act was released in 1967. Two other areas of focus in the 1970’s were air and water pollution, resulting in The Clean Water Act of 1972 and The Clean Air Act of 1970.

As knowledge of the effects of climate change grew, the United States has taken on various measures to maintain sustainability. One of the biggest focuses has been on renewable energy sources. In order to combat climate change, we must cut down on the emission of Chlorofluorocarbons into the atmosphere. Tapping into renewable energy sources is one of the best ways to do this. Through various policies and actions, the United States has drastically increased their use of renewable energy sources. Electric and hybrid cars are also being manufactured in an effort to decrease emissions. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Monthly Energy Review, in 2019,  the use of renewable sources exceeded coal consumption for the first time since before 1885. The energy sector has also shown decreasing costs of renewable energy sources and supported clean energy jobs for millions of Americans.

Based on these trends, it is clear that the movement has seen some success. However, there is still much work to be done. Dry air and unprecedented high temperatures caused the wildfires in California last year. Other recent disasters have also been caused by climate change. Success is definitely hard to measure. Substantial improvement in the effects climate change and emission levels will take many years. However, the United States has seen drastic improvements in energy sources and sustainability over the years. Though there have been set-backs in the movement toward a more sustainable future, Joe Biden is refocusing on climate change efforts and hopefully the movement’s success can continue in the future.