We will look back on this moment in American history as a tipping point. I’ve said this before, but these solar panels are a blazing metaphor in the story of cl

We will look back on this moment in American history as a tipping point. I’ve said this before, but these solar panels are a blazing metaphor in the story of climate change. A little heavy handed? Possibly, but I very much believe the election of 1980 was the deciding factor in climate change. Jimmy Carter told people to turn down their thermostats and aimed to wean America off of foreign energy. In the fall of 1979, there was still a possibility of a future of renewable energy independence. By January of 1980, that light began to dim. Reagan, dear friend to industry, ruthlessly pursued deregulation across the board and doubled down on petroleum, coal, and gas. By the end of the Reagan Bush era, any chance we had to start the slow painful transition away from fossil fuels was long gone. There is another reason why this election from 40 years ago meant so much. 1981 was when the first research was released by NASA scientists (James Hansen, et al) showing causation between CO2 release and warming in the upper atmosphere. [0] It’s laughable to imagine this paper hitting Reagan’s desk. Rather than forming energy policy, research like this was buried. Moreover, the cover the Reagan administration provided the coal and gas industry gave them the time they needed to form a robust disinformation campaign. Plastics recycling? SUVS in every garage? In January of 1980 we were already headed towards 4C of warming by 2100. We just wouldn’t realize it for another 30 years. [0] https://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/abs/ha04600x.html https://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/abs/ha04600x.html