“Crises teasingly hold out the possibility of dramatic reversals only to be followed by surreal continuity as the old order cadaverously fights back.”
dramatically ripping my Bernie 2020 shirt in two in front of a camera and then going “I was literally the most left wing radical that has ever existed, but the tankies over there are just unhinged. I’ve read some Jordan Peterson and I’ve been getting pretty convinced…”
Pulling this article out of the depths of my memory:
Emissions of a small group of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), man-made chemicals that destroy Earth’s protective ozone layer and fuel global warming, are back on the rise after their production was all but banned more than a decade ago, a new study concludes.
The study did not determine the source of emissions, but suggested that manufacturing of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), chemical refrigerants that replaced CFCs and other ozone depleting chemicals, may be to blame, because at least some of the CFCs detected in the atmosphere are permitted byproducts in the manufacture of HFCs, which are produced primarily in China and the United States.
…
At current levels, the increasing CFC emissions will have little impact on the ongoing recovery of the atmospheric ozone layer, which protects the planet from harmful ultraviolet radiation. The ozone hole over Antarctica is on track to be fully restored by 2066.
However, the chemicals’ climate impact may be of greater concern. Emissions of the five chemicals–CFC-13, CFC-112a, CFC-113a, CFC-114a and CFC-115—equaled 47 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2020 alone, according to the study. That is equal to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 10 million cars or 13 coal-fired power plants, according to the EPA’s greenhouse gas equivalency calculator.
So it’ll have almost no impact on the ozone layer, unlike what the that headline implies, notwithstanding that, as you say, the emissions on that map aren’t even coming from China. In fact:
Previous studies have identified “eastern China or the Korean Peninsula” as a source of emissions for two of the five pollutants, CFC-113a and CFC-115, and noted that eastern China is a leading producer of HFC-125. Production of HFC-134a, another chemical commonly used as a refrigerant and produced in large quantities in China, may also be a source of CFC emissions according to the current study.
“It makes sense that we link some of these things to China,” Western said. “China is a huge chemical producer.” Western added, however, that HFC production in China is “not enough to explain the entire global picture.”
A chemical plant owned by chemical manufacturer Honeywell in Geismar, Louisiana, is likely the largest producer of HFC-125 outside of China. In 2003, Honeywell announced the opening of a $100 million chemical plant that, at the time, was the “largest production facility of HFC-125 in the world.”
The plant’s HFC-125 production capacity when it opened was 20,000 metric tons per year, according to a 2002 report prepared for the World Bank. The U.S. International Trade Commission confirmed that, as of 2021, Honeywell continued to produce HFC-125 and was the sole U.S. producer of the chemical. “The R‐125 equipment at its Geismar, Louisiana, plant cannot be used to produce other [chemical] components,” the commission said.
“What if they invaded, pillaged, and coup’d the countries WE were going to invade, pillage, and coup! Can you imagine the tragedy?! Better that us, The Good Guys, exploit these countries than The Bad Guys!”