GERMANY-GREENLAND-DENMARK-FJORD

An iceberg floats through a fjord near Ilulissat in Greenland. Glaciers are melting due to warming temperatures, a trend that is helping drive up sea levels.

(MICHAEL KAPPELER)

On Thanksgiving, even editorial writers try to think of something positive to say. And given our focus on American politics, that can be a real challenge.

But here goes: Let us give thanks for a shift in momentum in the fight against climate change during 2014. We remain a million miles from Promised Land, but the trends are encouraging.

Start with the emissions. Since 2005, greenhouse gas emissions in the United States have dropped by 10 percent. A big reason is that power plants are steadily converting from coal to natural gas, which cuts emissions roughly in half.

That is a blessing, though a qualified one. Because there is a risk that water supplies could be contaminated by chemicals used during fracking, the process used to tap vast new supplies of natural gas. That has not proven to be a widespread problem so far, though, and the Environmental Protection Agency is weighing tougher protections to reduce the risk further. Strict regulation of fracking makes sense; peeling back this progress does not. We are on the right track.

We have made strides in efficiency as well. U.S. energy use fell 5 percent from 2007 to 2013, while GDP grew by 6 percent. We are producing more stuff with less juice. And every credible study shows that we have barely scratched the surface, that greater efficiency offers the best hope to reduce emissions at the lowest cost.

The recent agreement with China, which leads the world in carbon emissions, is a milestone as well, the first time that China has agreed to limit its emissions. This fight can’t be won without China and other developing countries, like India. So China’s agreement to at least stop its growth in emissions by 2030 is a turning point.

It is not enough, granted. But most of the carbon in the atmosphere today came from wealthier countries, which now have a special responsibility to clean up the mess. And China, while growing fast, remains a poor country where more than 350 million people live on less than $2 a day. It's up the West to take the lead.

Finally, several polls show that Americans are waking up to the scientific consensus over this risk, and tuning out the flat-earth nonsense coming from self-interested purveyors of fossil fuels like the Koch brothers, and conservative media outlets like Fox News.

According to Gallup, 58 percent of Americans now say they worry about global warming a "great deal" or "fair amount" – up from 51 percent in 2011. A recent survey by the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication found that 67 percent support President Obama's move to impose strict limits on carbon emissions from existing coal plants. And a Wall Street Journal / NBC News poll showed that a majority supports strict limits on emissions even if that meant higher utility bills.

Sadly, the partisan standoff in Washington means that Obama’s range of options is limited. The Clean Air Act empowers him to limit any pollutant that threatens human health, and the EPA has established that carbon qualifies as a threat, given its role in climate change. That was the legal basis for his doubling of fuel efficiency standards for cars, and for the limits on coal plants.

But what’s really needed is a carbon tax, or a cap-and-trade regimen. Either measure would increase the cost of carbon emissions, which would trigger investments in efficiency and in green energy production, like solar and wind. The revenues could be either returned directly to taxpayers in the form of rebates, or be used for other national purposes, like reducing the deficit or bolstering the infrastructure. Sadly, that seems way off, given the adamant Republican opposition.

Still, 2014 saw progress on climate. And for that, we offer thanks.