Important nature update: It’s not healing

Plus: Anybody care about democracy? [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a Squishmallow of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Economic growth can [save the environment](. - Americans don’t [care enough about democracy](. - The [era of big honking rate hikes]( is over. - The US will need [allies to beat China](. Nature Is Not Healing For about 15 minutes in 2020, before it became a meme, “Nature is healing” was a hopeful commentary on the effect of a total shutdown of the global economy on the planet’s ecosystems. No more flying, driving, or shopping for Squishmallows, and suddenly the atmosphere was a lot cleaner. Or so it seemed. Air pollution and carbon emissions did plunge during the months when almost everybody was in early-pandemic lockdown. Unfortunately, like me when I go on “vacation,” the earth didn’t take that opportunity to heal itself, for a plethora of reasons best summed up here as “[It’s complicated](.” And when activity restarted, even in low-power mode, the damage to the climate ramped right back up. That episode was a tiny window into the fiendishly difficult problem of getting carbon emissions down to net zero by 2050, as most of the world’s leaders have pledged. Shutting down the economy for months doesn’t help, apparently, and even a [decades-long global recession would barely make a dent]( in emissions, writes Eduardo Porter: If we don’t curb carbon pollution quickly, then we face a level of warming that will generate misery and disasters much worse than anything we’ve suffered so far. But a 30-year depression won’t be any better for humanity. Worse, it would keep the global south in a permanent state of underdevelopment, adding insult to the many injuries a warming planet is already inflicting on poor countries. Eduardo suggests the best hope for lifting global living standards without destroying our habitat is more economic growth. As David Fickling points out, much of the developed world’s liquidity will be [tied up in fighting a desperate battle]( against rising seas, furious storms and parched landscapes at home. There won’t be much left over to help the have-nots fight their battles. That problem could be solved if those countries had some liquidity of their own. Further Climate Reading: Gridlock in Washington will shift the [US climate battlefront to the states](. — Liam Denning Democracy, Shmemocracy, Say Americans President Joe Biden gave a [speech]( last night warning American democracy hangs in the balance in the upcoming midterm elections. Did you watch it? Probably not. I mean, the World Series was on! Also, “Survivor.” And “Chicago Med.” And, uh, “Stargirl.” Anyway, as Frank Wilkinson points out, polls show [Americans say they worry about democracy](, but not enough to, like, do anything about it. The ones who believe Biden the most were already going to vote anyway. Concern for democracy may not swing many votes the Dems’ way, and Ramesh Ponnuru suggests [abortion rights won’t, either](. That’s because Americans are mainly angry about the state of the economy. Weirdly, the Republicans who could soon take over Congress as a result haven’t said much at all about [how they’ll fix the economy](, writes Allison Schrager. But hey, the economy is all [vibes]( anyway, and so is democracy. Did you catch that game? Further Democracy Reading: At least [Denmark still knows]( how to do democracy. — Andreas Kluth Rich Man Gets Into (Central Bank) Heaven Getting a camel through the eye of a needle has nothing on Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who managed an even narrower squeeze yesterday. As Jonathan Levin points out, he prepared markets for a slower pace of rate hikes [without making them all dumb and happy](, as they are wont to be. Financial conditions went [back to being wonderfully miserable](, just the way the Fed likes them, writes John Authers: Still, make no mistake, writes Dan Moss: However hawkishly Powell screeches, the Fed has quietly joined the rest of the world in deciding the [era of massive rate hikes is over](. Further Reading Four mid-tier powers will [determine who wins a US-China war](. — Hal Brands, in the first of a series from Asia Emerging markets got [Russia to let Ukrainian grain flow]( again. They should flex that power more often. — Clara Ferreira Marques The Arabs may [offer Russian oil a lifeline](, and that may be a good thing. — Julian Lee Shein has a waste problem, and [reselling Shein merch]( won’t help. — Adam Minter A new IMF loan did nothing to solve [Egypt’s biggest economic problem](: the military’s stranglehold. — Bobby Ghosh If you’ve had Covid, [watch out for stroke symptoms](. — Faye Flam [Magic mushrooms]( may not be a magic cure for depression. — Lisa Jarvis ICYMI Elon [Musk took away Twitter employees’]( rest days. Joe [Manchin wants a bipartisan deal]( on entitlements. Jeff Bezos and Jay-Z may [bid on the Washington Commanders](. Kickers [Sugar substitutes]( aren’t great. Sixteen thousand people [still have Pebble watches](. Nobody uses [foreign-language phrasebooks]( anymore. Massive “[extragalactic structure” found hiding]( in a “zone of avoidance” (not to be confused with the subway). Notes:  Please send phrasebooks and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022