RE: Surely Mao Zedong, the father of communist China, removed far more carbon from the atmosphere through his “great leap forward” program that killed 80 million.
Not sure about that number. The Great Leap Forward is one of those events in history where the number of dead people have not been accounted for with much accuracy. Some put it as low as 10 Million, some ( as in the above ) as high as an alarming 80 million.
We can never be sure how many died.
The Black Book of Communism puts the Mao’s total death count at 65 million. This includes only Chinese civilians, and includes all atrocities of the Mao regime, not just the Great Leap Forward. It’s probably the most responsible and thoroughly researched estimate out there.
Other than frivolous assessments of environmental impact and the like, precise estimates of the death counts for the various Communist and National Socialist leaders are unnecessary to weigh their ideologies in the balance. Reasonable estimates are, however, necessary to remind people of the consequences of collectivism and central planning have been tried in the balance and found wanting.