Paris Climate Conference Is A Success

(This image of the celebration at reaching a deal on climate change in Paris is from Reuters, and was found on the webpage of the BBC.)

It turns out that the Paris Climate Conference was a big success -- with all countries signing an agreement to do their part to keep the global temperature rise to no more than 2 degrees centigrade (over the average pre-industrial temperature). And they pledged to attempt to keep the rise to only 1.5 degrees centigrade.

I doubt anyone thinks this is the final solution to the problem of global climate change, but it could be the first giant step toward the final solution -- and the leaders of all nations are to be congratulated on reaching the agreement. President Obama said:

"We came together around a strong agreement the world needed. We met the moment."

"This agreement represents the best chance we have to save the one planet that we've got."

"The problem's not solved because of this accord, but make no mistake, the Paris agreement establishes the enduring framework the world needs to solve the climate crisis." 

Perhaps the best thing about this agreement is that the Republicans in the United States can't stop it or screw it up. That's because the agreement doesn't need Senate approval, since the required parts of the agreement are already written into law in this country.

The GOP elected officials continue to deny global climate change exists, and claim the measures needed to stop it would cost many American jobs. Fortunately, the people don't believe either of those untruths. Poll after poll has shown the majority of Americans believe global climate change is happening (and because of human activity) -- and now we have a survey that shows they also believe that reducing global warming (which is the cause of the global climate change) will create jobs instead of costing jobs.

The chart below is from a Reuters Poll -- done between December 1st and 4th of a random national sample of 2,027 adults. A margin of error wasn't given, but the sample size is large, so the margin of error is unlikely to be very high.