The world economies have been built over the past centuries with oil and coal as the primary energy sources. Entrepreneurs, not central planners, have created advancements over time. Actions to wean the world off fossil fuels will have to be profit driven. It won’t be jammed down anyone’s throat unless there’s money in it, and government subsidies in the amounts required probably isn’t a realistic approach.

The United States uses maybe 20 to 25 percent of the world’s fossil fuels. So the other 75 to 80 percent has to be dealt with. This takes us to the Paris climate accord, preceded by the Kyoto Protocol, which in turn was preceded by the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992 in Rio de Janeiro.

Unlike the rest of the world, the United States has been reducing its carbon output for some years now. China promises it will begin to reduce by some unspecified amounts after some unspecified number of years of continuing to increase its outputs.

Money? The Paris accord calls for developed nations to contribute $100 billion annually by 2020. (For comparison, the U.N. runs on around $15 billion annually). I understand that nobody has paid anything into the accord besides the U.S.

President Trump has – rightfully – quit the accord.

If the world is to get serious, a special panel needs be created – outside the U.N. framework. All the industrial nations, at least those that account for, say, 85 to 90 percent of current carbon emissions. must participate. Objective: Come up with a plan by which everyone is bound. Like a nuclear arms control treaty, with inspections, reports and penalty consequences for violations.

Tom Zimmerman

South Casco