Our planet's atmosphere is a notable and alarming example of "the tragedy of the commons."
This tragedy occurs when a valuable part of the natural world can be grabbed for free by anyone, and people use it so much that it becomes worth a lot less or even worthless.
A commonly discussed example of this tragedy refers to catching fish in the ocean.
Except for waters near a country's shoreline, oceans are not owned by anybody. In the absence of international treaties putting limits on fishing, everyone is free to catch all they can. But if too many fish are caught, that type of fish may fail to replenish itself and disappear.
The benefits of fishing go immediately to those doing it, while the cost of destroying that type of fish hurts the world's entire population.
The atmosphere is another example of the tragedy of the commons. It is a valuable resource that people have thus far been able to use freely. And if we ruin it, the consequences will be far worse than losing some kinds of fish.
Our atmosphere is obviously a critical resource. We inhale its oxygen to stay alive and we breathe out carbon dioxide. Plants harvest carbon dioxide from it and emit oxygen.
And engines burning coal, gas, or oil combine these fuels with atmospheric oxygen, releasing carbon dioxide.
The amount of carbon dioxide people and other animals breathe out is negligible and easily absorbed by plants. But engines burning carbon fuels are an entirely different matter.
These engines have only been around for about 200 years, but as countries industrialized they have put huge and increasing amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Although carbon dioxide still represents less than 1% of the atmosphere, even tiny additions produce a major increase in the amount of heat received from the sun that is not radiated back into space.
Since air circulates freely, no country can wall itself off and avoid atmospheric problems caused by actions in other parts of the world. For atmospheric purposes, we are one world whether we like it or not.
In the absence of a world government that can enforce rules everywhere, the only way to prevent the tragedy of the commons from finishing off the atmosphere is by voluntary cooperation among all of the countries on the planet.
An encouraging example of the possibilities here was the Montreal Protocol, a multilateral treaty prohibiting the production of refrigeration gasses that were destroying the ozone layer that protects us from the sun's ultraviolet radiation. This Protocol has worked well.
More recent international efforts have aimed at limiting additional carbon dioxide injected into the atmosphere. The main attempt has been the Paris Agreement.
During his first administration, Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, but Joe Biden brought us back in. On the first day of his second term, Mr. Trump signed an order withdrawing the U.S. again. Under the terms of the Agreement, the withdrawal will not go into effect for one year.
During his campaign for the second term, Trump had sought financial support from the big coal, oil, and gas producers whose interests conflict with reducing and ultimately eliminating reliance on their fuels. He promised to help them, using the slogan "Drill, baby, drill." He is giving them the promised help
Despite the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, the fact that solar and wind energy are now cheaper than carbon fuels will continue propelling the world towards a carbon-free energy system. This momentum will be aided by the immense Chinese investments in green energy, investments which may well kill off the American automobile industry, an additional benefit ... for China.
But if Mr. Trump's policies slow down this progress, Americans will also suffer from its consequences for the climate.
We ignore the tragedy of the commons as it applies to the atmosphere at our own and all of humanity's enormous risk.
Paul F. deLespinasse is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Computer Science at Adrian College. Read Professor Paul F. deLespinasse's Reports — More Here.