(To kick off 2020, the HB announces The Liminal Times, a media outlet that focuses on news that illuminates, not intimidates)

To watch news nowadays (which means to turn on your phone), you’d think we’d already set the microwave to “popcorn” when it comes to the globe. But the truth is, we are making real steps toward enlightenment regarding climate change (even if our Assassinater-in Chief refuses to acknowledge it’s getting stuffy in here).

But witness what those with functioning frontal lobes have done on the climate front in the past decade alone:

WE’VE CUT OUR COAL USE

In 2010, 46% of the electricity generated in the United States came from coal. Now, that share has dropped to 25%. In 2020, coal is expected to only make up 22% of our electricity generation. Part of the reason why is the increase in renewable energy sources, and the fact that because wind and solar are so cheap now, coal and natural gas can’t really compete. Another factor: how much more energy efficient we’ve become. Whether it’s our light bulbs or washing machines or computers or entire buildings, we’re using less electricity to power all of our things. According to new data from the Resources Defense Counsel, every 1% growth in our economy used to require a 1% growth in electricity. That’s no longer true; in some cities, a 1% economic growth is actually reducing how much electricity people need.

WE’VE GOTTEN RID OF OZONE-DEPLETING CHEMICALS

The Montreal Protocol, ratified in 1987, committed the world’s governments to a phase out of ozone-depleting chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. That phase out was completed in 2010. Along with helping restore the ozone layer, that action allowed us to avoid 1 degree of warming because CFCs are more powerful greenhouse gases than CO2 (though they were never as abundant as emission CO2 is). The RDC data suggests that 1 degree slowed warming by a decade.

EMISSION STANDARDS HELPED ELIMINATE MORE THAN 400 MILLION TONS OF CO2

The Trump administration is moving to roll back emissions standards for the transportation industry, but that won’t change the fact that those standards have already eliminated more than 400 million tons of CO2 in this decade alone, according to the RDC. And electric car sales continue to surge: About 775,000 electric cars were sold in 2016. The next year, (the most recent data available), that number rose to 1.22 million, a 57% spike.

BIG BUSINESSES ARE STARTING TO GET ON BOARD

Climate activism may still seem a grassroots affair, and it’ is. But seismic change relies on global corporations to cooperate — and they have. This decade saw Google buy as much renewable energy as it uses globally. Apple made the first-ever purchase of carbon-free aluminum, and more than 700 major corporations, from McDonald’s to Microsoft, have committed to cutting emissions. And already, they’ve made verified cuts of 265 million metric tons of emissions to keep companies in line with the commitments of the Paris Agreement, despite Trump’s withdrawal. Because 100 companies are responsible for 71% of the global emissions since 1988, altered  behavior by large corporations will also be an outsized part of fixing the crisis.

WE ARE AWARE, AND WE CARE

Climate change has been understood for decades by scientists and policy makers, but it wasn’t until the 2010s that the majority of the public accepted it as fact. A new study by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication found that 71% believe global warming is happening. About 47% said they were “very” or “extremely” sure of it, while only 13% believe it is not happening.

Our president and his death cult are among the non-believers, but don’t surrender hope. Who know? Maybe Donnie Dimwit will watch another solar eclipse, blind himself and live unaware of the bills he signs. He sort of does, anyway.