The one planet we’ve got
Obama issued a statement on Trump’s evil move.
A year and a half ago, the world came together in Paris around the first-ever global agreement to set the world on a low-carbon course and protect the world we leave to our children.
It was steady, principled American leadership on the world stage that made that achievement possible. It was bold American ambition that encouraged dozens of other nations to set their sights higher as well. And what made that leadership and ambition possible was America’s private innovation and public investment in growing industries like wind and solar – industries that created some of the fastest new streams of good-paying jobs in recent years, and contributed to the longest streak of job creation in our history.
Simply put, the private sector already chose a low-carbon future. And for the nations that committed themselves to that future, the Paris Agreement opened the floodgates for businesses, scientists, and engineers to unleash high-tech, low-carbon investment and innovation on an unprecedented scale.
The nations that remain in the Paris Agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created. I believe the United States of America should be at the front of the pack. But even in the absence of American leadership; even as this Administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; I’m confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet we’ve got.
A day that will live in infamy.
It would be great if CEOs of businesses that might potentially benefit in the short term would step forward and say that the gutting of EPA regulations against dumping poisons into air, water, and land would be bad for business because it kills customers. Amongst Trump supporters, climate change mitigation might be a harder sell, but warning against poisoning people and the environment might have a better chance at gaining traction amongst people who can bend the ears of their Republican representatives.
Knowing full well that the effects of climate change are already happening, battling it amongst US voters who don’t “believe” in it is probably harder, partly because of the internationalist aspect of it. The predicted time frame of its worst effects is far enough away for it to be more easily ignored. Fighting the poisoning America’s back yard, killing America’s people, might be an avenue of resistance that some nominal Trump supporters might be reachable through.
Probably just dreaming, though.
Trump has now responded to Obama’s statement:
“IT IS A GREAT HONOR TO PULL OUT OF THE PARIS AGREEMENT WHILE HERE WITH ALL OF MY FRIENDS — SO AMAZING & WILL NEVER FORGET!”
HAAAAAAAAAARGGH
When I make the point in my classes that we only have one planet…my students explain very patiently to me that we are going to terraform the moon and Mars, and move there. I then explain (with a bit less patience, but usually hiding it) that we are not going to solve our problems that way, and the cost of doing that is more prohibitive than reducing carbon emissions and changing our power grid…oh, and by the way, as a specialist in ecological restoration, I say, I can tell you, we really don’t know how to build ecosystems by scratch here on Earth where we have all the things we need and don’t have to haul them for days across space into a world with no atmosphere, no water, etc. We succeed some here, but not as much as we’d like; why in the world do people think we can do it on Mars? Or even the moon?
But America can science away all the problems, especially if there’s a buck to be made.Lunar Trump Towers! How this will happen without the basic research that is being gutted is another question. So our ship is sinking and there are no lifeboats, no shore, no one to answer an SOS.
Maybe Trump is actually from Venus and his long term goal is to “venuform” Earth.