“The emissions data is real,” he said. “We are, by every measurable standard, exactly what we say we are.”

I asked him what came after every measurable standard.

He was quiet for a long time.

“I have been anchoring outside boundaries for eleven years,” he said. “Not to hide it. To mark it. So that at least someone notices where the line is.”

He corrected the heading by half a degree. His hand on the wheel was steady.