Only U Can Prevent Climate Deniers

By Paul VanRaden

July 2026

Topics

The air we share

My carbon footprint

My sister Miriam’s advice

U.S. carbon footprint

What you can do

References

The air we share

Earth has much air that we all share. Wind blows and mixes the air we breathe with the elements, molecules, or particles we add into it. Global cooling can happen very quickly. The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines blocked sunlight and decreased average global temperatures 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.3 Celsius) for two years before that volcano’s ash and sulfur settled back to earth. Global warming happens more slowly and takes longer to reverse because putting elements and molecules into the air is easier than getting them back out.

Acid rain caused by burning high-sulfur coal was a crisis when I was young and was solved on a more regional than global basis because the acid rain fell downwind of the coal-fired plants. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set goals in 1980 and market-based limits on sulfur and nitrous oxide since 1990 that keep the pH of our rain stable. The Paris climate agreements set similar goals to reduce CO₂ globally because CO₂ does not fall back to earth. Many countries set up market-based limits, but the U.S. government now totally ignores global warming. Jet airplane vapor trails also seem like a regional issue because they block some sunlight and keep some heat from escaping for a short time, but their nitrous oxides and other exhaust stay in the air for a long time with net effects about 3 times more than just their CO₂.

A previous global crisis was that chloroflourocarbons (CFCs) used in refrigerants and aerosol spray cans caused a large hole in the upper atmosphere’s ozone layer, which protects life from damaging solar radiation. Replacing the CFCs with hydroflourocarbons did not cost much. The global treaty signed 1987 in Montreal has nearly solved that world problem.

The cattle genetics research I did for USDA over the last 4 decades did not focus on climate change because we forecast only 1 cow generation ahead and the 5-year average lifespan for calves born today will be in a climate very similar to that of the previous generation. Thus, we selected cows for the current climate rather than for a hotter climate in the future. Our research on seasonal adjustment factors proved that summer heat decreases milk production less now than in previous decades because today’s dairy cows often have a roof over their heads and fans blowing air instead of standing out in the hot sun.

Our research herd at Beltsville was the first in the U.S. to collect methane (CH₄) production as a new trait to allow selecting for cows that burp out less carbon. Our herd was discontinued in 2025 and the whole research center was shut down in 2026. Universities and all other countries are continuing research to reduce global warming even if that research is now forbidden within USDA. The American government does not care how much carbon you put in our air, but CO₂ traps heat like a blanket according to Eunice Newton Foote in 1856 and 99% of all experts today. Fortunately, you can use peer pressure to help prevent climate change.

Why should you believe that global warming is true? I asked that question to my search engine and the top answer was this short report Global Warming Explained: Myths vs. Facts. The second-best answer was this more scientific report Why Climate Change Is Fake: Common Myths Debunked - ScienceInsights. The third was from the United Nations Debunking eight common myths about climate change | UNEP and fourth from the NASA scientists that we pay to collect data, analyze it, and tell us the truth Evidence - NASA Science.

Then I asked the opposite question: “Why should you believe that global warming is false?” and found this report Why Do People Think Climate Change Is Not Real? - ScienceInsights. My own answer is much simpler, that the U.S. President said “Climate change is a hoax” and many of his cult followers repeat whatever lies he tells them, no matter how lost they get. Climate deniers might reply “I’m not lost, I’m following my leader.” Most Americans understand the problem, they just need to vote for leaders willing to solve problems instead of ignoring them.

My carbon footprint

I thought a lot about pollution while driving a tractor pulling a 3-bottom plow in about 1975 at age 15. My father said that running a diesel at maximum effort would not hurt it but get our fields plowed faster, so I took his advice and made a thick cloud of smoke all day. I knew that air is only about 5 miles (8 km) thick and our tractor filled the bottom 20 feet (6 meters) with smoke, so the whole atmosphere could be smoke in 1,300 years. Then I found out that rain washes out the big, visible soot particles and was not as worried. That was before most of us learned that CO₂ warms our climate.

Living close to work is one way to reduce energy use. During my first 18 years I lived in a house only about 25 steps (25 meters) away from the barn where I worked. From 2018-2025 I lived only 3 miles (5 km) away from my office at USDA and biked to work most days. In 2025 my bike went 1,374 miles (2,211 km) and my car went 1,382 miles (2,224 km). But from 1994-2017 I lived 19 miles (31 km) away from my office and spent 1.5 hours each day commuting because traffic was slow to Washington in the morning and from Washington in the evening unless I went home about 7pm. Short commutes can improve quality of life and air.

In Maryland, utility companies compared each customer’s energy use to the average neighbor and to the most efficient 20% of customers in similar homes. I often used 30% less energy in the winter and about 50% less in the summer than even my most efficient neighbors. We did not have programmable thermostats, but I did little heating or cooling during the day while at the office and cooled or heated a little after returning home at about 7pm. On summer mornings I sometimes used a box fan to blow cooler air in, like our family did in the 1960s and 1970s instead of using air conditioning. My next-door neighbor turned off his heat while on vacation for a week but then his water pipes froze and flooded his apartment and he had to buy new carpets, so avoid that mistake. In Florida we do not get energy comparison reports.

In December 2025 I calculated my impact on global warming over the year which totaled 11,000 pounds (5,000 kg) of CO₂ and was about equal to the world’s average carbon footprint per person. About 50% of my CO₂ came from 3 roundtrip flights (2 between Baltimore and Orlando and 1 to Mexico). About 35% of my carbon footprint was from electricity, mostly to cool this house in FL using 10,000 kilowatt hours/year, shared by 2 people, and creating 3,960 pounds (1,800 kg) per person. The remaining 15% of CO₂ was from driving solo about 1,500 miles (2,400 km) plus some shared rides.

This year I worked harder to release less CO₂ and did more detailed calculations. I made only 1 business trip from Florida to Georgia to teach. All other trips in the first half of 2026 totaled 490 miles (790 km). My carbon use is now less than half of the world average and 60% less than last year because I did not fly to Washington to accept a national award from the Partnership for Public Service in April and I did not fly to Madison, WI in October, 2025 to accept a national award from Dairy Shrine.

My neighbors in this retirement community spend much of their time and funds on travel which was also true 30 years ago. When my wife and I went to Asia and South America most of the people we traveled with were retired. But now such travel seems wrong while we deport the people who came to America recently and deny visas to all people from the poorest countries so they may not even visit here. Thirty years ago, I imagined that all of us today, rich or poor, would have a right to migrate to the places where we choose to visit or live. I was a dreamer.

My sister Miriam’s advice

In the early 1970s, as a high school student, I (Miriam) heard the call to action for the first Earth Day. During my five-mile drive from our dairy farm to school, I often noticed trash along the rural highway. So I took bags and walked the road, picking up everything I found. I got permission to hold a school assembly and shared what I had collected: mostly beer cans and cigarette butts. I felt I had done something worthwhile and hoped others would follow. Decades later, I taught my grandchildren to pick up carelessly discarded trash whenever they saw it, repeating the 1970s slogan, “Keep America Beautiful.”

Then we learned that scientists recognized the need for stronger protections, which helped lead to the Clean Air Act. The sleek, powerful muscle cars so many admired were gradually fitted with catalytic converters, and luxury and gas-guzzler taxes followed.

Government exists to protect the public interest. In high school, I saw only small but irritating bits of trash scattered across the green grass of home, and some people even dismissed that problem. Los Angeles, however, had terrible air quality, and regulation was needed to make the country more livable. Decades later, I was fortunate to travel internationally and saw large cities without green spaces where pollution filled the air because their governments, often constrained by finances, did not prioritize a healthy environment. I also learned that the United States had sold older, more polluting factory technology to poorer countries. Yikes. Those travels helped me understand that everyone on this planet shares the same air and water.

U.S. carbon footprint

In 1977, Jimmy Carter’s speech on energy was not about global warming but about conserving energy and using renewable sources. He led by example because he really cared about all Americans and all people in the world. Today, the President and the billionaires running the government also lead by example. The President flies to every sporting event on a large jet and taxpayers pay for his fuel. The billionaires hope we will use more energy, drill for more oil, and burn more coal because they will get rich if we buy more. They tell you lies about climate change for the same reason that tobacco companies lied about cigarette smoking: to get richer if consumers do not understand what smoke does to your lungs or CO₂ does to your climate. Americans create about 3 times more CO₂ than the world average and about 50 times more than most Africans who feel real heat from the CO₂ we create.

The U.S. government in 2025 again sabotaged international cooperation to reduce global warming by not attending the Brazil conference and promising to do nothing. Very hard for this globe to stop warming when the biggest source of CO₂ pretends that it does not exist. But we do create CO₂ and it does warm the globe to even if our leaders hate science. You can monitor your region’s temperatures in this report showing the whole globes temperatures as differences from those of several decades ago.

Investing in more efficient energy is good for long-term economic growth. Gains in efficiency of renewable energy have been faster than expected, and costs have gone down faster than expected as mass production pays for the initial cost of research and design.

On July 4, 2026 I loved watching live coverage of the tall ship parade in New York past the Statue of Liberty because their carbon footprint was exactly 0. Also, such ships kept bringing immigrants including some of my ancestors even after native Americans tried to stop them. The parade reminded me of the 1969 song Wooden Ships by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, a band with 1 Canadian, 1 British, and 2 American singers. Also, July had much news about extreme heat on multiple continents, Canadian forest fires, American tariffs on the imported smoke, and Canadians reminding Americans to do something about global warming, which I did by writing this report.

What you can do

Knowing what you put into the air is a good first step in trying to reduce your carbon impact. For example, I assumed that slower boats were more efficient than fast planes until reading this: “a round-trip cruise from Port Canaveral near Orlando, Florida, to Nassau, Bahamas—a popular, 350-mile route—would equal about 980 pounds of carbon emissions per person. That same return route, if traveled from Orlando International Airport to Nassau's International Airport in the economy class of a passenger aircraft, would add up to only 368 pounds of CO2 emitted per person.”

Blowing CO₂ out of your exhaust pipe seems like throwing trash out your car window. The main difference is that you can see the trash but you cannot see the CO₂. If someone riding in your car throws trash out the window, the police will likely not stop you, arrest you, or fine you, but roads will stay much cleaner than before that first earth day if people are ashamed to make earth a worse place to live. The government can give incentives or penalties to help remind us not to pollute. But telling your friends and family not to pollute and reminding them if they do is likely a better way to reduce their carbon footprint.

This next slogan’s original goal was to prevent forest fires, which put 24 tons of CO₂ per acre or 15,000 tons / square mile into the air on average. Few people try to start forest fires, but they need reminders to be more careful. Most people do not try to make earth hotter and they might stop if their friends or family ask them to. Today, Smoky the Bear should also say: “Only U Can Prevent Climate Deniers”.

Back to: Solutions To World Problems

References

Global Warming Explained: Myths vs. Facts

Why Climate Change Is Fake: Common Myths Debunked - ScienceInsights

Debunking eight common myths about climate change | UNEP

Why Do People Think Climate Change Is Not Real? - ScienceInsights

What Has Trump Said About Global Warming? Eight Quotes on Climate Change as He Announces Paris Agreement Decision - Newsweek

Eunice Newton Foote - Wikipedia

Climate change denial - Wikipedia

Stop Trying to Convert Climate Deniers: A Psychologist’s Guide to Actually Making a Difference

Carbon Footprint Calculator

List of countries by greenhouse gas emissions per capita - Wikipedia