Dec 14, 2015 3 min read

The climate accord reached in Paris over the weekend is one of those agreements that seems destined to make few people ecstatically happy.

On the one hand, at least in this country, you have the skeptics and outright deniers who believe that all the warnings about climate change are part of a big con job perpetrated by grasping politicians and clever academics, and that the highest form of human expression is drilling for fossil fuels and burning them once they are unearthed.

Then, on the other hand, you have environmental diehards who wouldn’t be satisfied unless we shifted immediately to a preindustrial economy, scrapped every car on the road tomorrow and replaced our furnaces with solar panels.

Both of these factions are decrying the Paris climate accord reached by 196 countries because it either goes too far, or doesn’t go far enough. But the rest of us who recognize that climate change is a reality, and that we can and should be taking steps to minimize its impact, should be happy with the agreement. It may not solve the problem in one fell swoop, but it lays the groundwork for further progress in the decades ahead.

The agreement would strive to hold the rise in global temperatures to no more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial averages, with an aspirational goal of no more than 2.5 degrees Fahrenehit. Why 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit? That is the point at which scientists believe the world would be subject to the worst effects of climate change, from droughts and floods to increasing sea levels and decreasing food supplies.

The countries participating in the agreement will meet every five years to review progress and encourage deeper cuts in the amount of pollution being generated. The accord also contains provisions for verification and monitoring, and offers a helping hand to developing countries, many of whom believe they have to pay an inordinate share of the cost compared to nations that have been burning fossil fuels and polluting the atmosphere for far longer.

There is reason to believe that world leaders could become more ambitious as the years pass. Thanks to continued investment and innovation, the cost of green energy continues to decline, and is likely to fall further once additional investments are made. This agreement offers a clear signal that scientists and entrepreneurs should get to work, and that wind, hydropower and other renewables are the wave of the future, even if we will continue to rely on coal, gas and other fossil fuels in the near term.

News reports also said President Obama’s policies in this country, such as his Clean Power Plan to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants, demonstrated the commitment of the United States and opened the door for other countries to negotiate with greater seriousness and urgency. China is also feeling pressure to reduce the amount of smog enveloping its cities – details of the agreement were arrived at just days after Beijing was virtually shut down because air pollution there was so bad that schools were closed and traffic was curtailed.

No, the Paris accord will not rescue the planet on its own, but it gets us on the road to saving it. As Jonathan Chait of New York magazine summarized, “It’s hard to find any important accomplishment in history that completely solved a problem. …Victories are hardly ever immediate or complete. The fight continues and history marches on. The climate agreement in Paris should take its place as one of the great triumphs in history.”