Like-minded thinking against the Paris Accord decision
Julia Falcon | Staff Writer
President Donald Trump pulled out of the two-year contract protecting the worldwide environment, the Paris Agreement, on June 1. Many celebrities, politicians and citizens of the world have voiced their concerns on the abrupt decision.
The agreement was signed by members of the United Nations on April 22, 2016. The participating world leaders agreed that they would limit greenhouse emissions and climate change, as well as keeping the global temperature increase below two degrees Celsius.
When Trump first announced that we were pulling out of the accord, he called it “the latest example of Washington [D.C.] entering into an agreement that disadvantages the United States to the exclusive benefit of other countries.” According to The Telegraph, he claimed that further enrollment in the accord would leave Americans with less jobs, “lower wages and shuttered factories.” But does he not care about the largest ongoing problem in the world: climate change?
To me, climate change is an important problem to focus on because it effects this generation, the next generation and so forth. I want my grand kids, their kids and so on to see the beauty in our planet is someday. But we won’t be able to do so if we’re not being pushed by our national leaders within the ongoing fight to stay green.
Although there are many small ways we can reduce emissions, drive less or recycle more, our nation’s leader pulling out of this agreement says a lot about how much we really care about the planet we live in.
In May, Trump also announced he made cuts within the Environmental Protection Agency, continuing to put climate change on the back burner. Throughout his presidential campaign, Trump said that he will work to eliminate the EPA. This includes making drastic budget cuts and employee buyouts.
In a poll from ABC News on June 5, 59 percent of Americans opposed the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, while 28 percent were in support of it.
On the June 4 episode of his television show, “Last Week Tonight,” host John Oliver said, “We are not talking about a fictional apocalypse like the one in the movie ‘2012,’ but a real global disaster like the movie ‘2012.’”
Engineering legend Bill Nye, who we know best as the “Science Guy,” said that Trump cannot logically build a border wall against CO2 emissions.
U.S. chooses not to stay in Paris accord. The “Losers?” Everyone on Earth. Sad. https://t.co/wYUB9OY7hM
— Bill Nye (@BillNye) June 1, 2017
When Nye came to UNT last April, he even encouraged students to vote for their futures when voting for the next president.
Former President Barack Obama later released a statement about the U.S. leaving the agreement, saying “the nations that remain in the Paris Agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created.” Obama’s statement expresses a hope we all should have: that the world will continue improving and that we should never give up on that notion.
Like Obama, I support the Paris Accord. And also like Obama, I am let down that we are no longer in it. If multiple celebrities and political pundits are openly critical of Trump’s actions, we should do the same in our own proactive way.
Featured Image: President Donald Trump announced the U.S. exit out of the Paris Agreement on June 1, 2017. Andrew Harnik, Associated Press.
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