Meanwhile, “green” lines of entire industries have popped up everywhere to try to meet consumer demand, with one of the clearest examples of this being the beauty industry. Proclaiming to be “all natural” and “non-toxic” or free of “harsh chemicals” is a pervasive type of branding for beauty products, from moisturizers to sunscreens. But because there is no standard definition for “clean” or even for what constitutes a “harsh chemical,” these sustainability claims can vary wildly.

John Kerry helped bring the world into the Paris climate agreement and expanded America’s reputation as a climate leader. That reputation is now in tatters, and President-elect Joe Biden is asking Kerry to rebuild it again – this time as climate envoy, a position Biden plans to include in the National Security Council. It won’t be easy, but Kerry’s decades of experience and the international relationships he developed as a senator and secretary of state may give him a chance of making real progress.

The bottom line is that the earth’s natural ability to pull carbon out of our environment is beyond strained. From deforestation and carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, the path that we are on is not sustainable. Wind and solar farms are great except that they are costly to build, do not produce enough energy to sustain any of our large cities, and require subsidies from our public institutions to be built and maintained.