Commentary: President Donald Trump has pulled the United States out of a widely-accepted international agreement purportedly intended to stop damaging climate change. His decision was cheered by people politically committed to Trump, as well as certain business interests who are delighted to continue harmful climate behaviors. The decision was also met with howls of disapproval from countless world leaders and climate scientists convinced of the danger of our current climate course.
The climate change issue in general has been thoroughly contaminated with numerous opinions based more upon personal agendas of persons or groups having a financial or political stake in the climate change issue than having any real commitment to truthful information.
Lost in all of this are the hearts and minds of most Americans. So many people today are charged up with bias both for and against Mr. Trump and his predecessor that unbiased truth about climate change is lost or ignored. Scientists on both sides of this issue can be found everywhere. Many of these folks have been on someone’s payroll. How can an average American make any sense of all this? Let’s simplify things. Do you believe that activities of human beings are helping or hurting our planet? That’s what this comes down to. We should not care about preserving jobs tied to harmful climate behaviors if these actions are destroying our one and only home planet. That is about as foolish and shortsighted as one can get. And, this would not leave much of a planet to our children and generations yet to be born. The Earth is our home. But, with our presence in this magnificent natural world that was gifted to us and our fellow living things comes the paramount responsibility to keep our planet healthy and thriving.
In defending his decision to reject this Agreement, Mr. Trump said that he represents the people of Pittsburgh and not Paris. But if the health of our planet continues to deteriorate, there won’t be any Pittsburgh or anywhere else for him to represent. Trump said this Agreement is a bad deal. And perhaps it is. But since President Trump dislikes this Agreement, he now has assumed the unshakable responsibility to tell the world what his plan is and what he’s actually going to do to save and protect our precious home.