What Has President Trump Done Now?

President Trump just announced his decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord. He set out, with specificity, the reasons why. The economic disadvantages it imposes upon the United States, the intentional redistribution of wealth from U.S. taxpayers to other signatories who have fewer obligations yet greater freedoms to pollute, the imposition upon U.S. autonomy in making its own energy decisions, and its infringement upon the freedoms given us by our Constitution.

I thought the speech was great. To paraphrase Michele Obama, “Today was not the first, but it was certainly one of the days I am proud of my country.”

But, I have a dear friend who is as distraught as I am happy. She believes that the decision to withdraw is grave error because it’s all about “protecting planet earth.” On this she and I are in agreement. It is important to protect the planet. Where we diverge is that the Paris Climate Accord is the way to do that. My friend voiced two strong opinions. I’d like to address them both.

First, that since we already committed or “gave our word” it’s important that we keep it. As lifelong friends, she knows how important I think integrity is so keeping one’s word is high on my list…just not at the expense of one’s life. And certainly not when the word was given by those who will only experience the benefits…not given by those who will suffer the consequences of being bound to it.

The Paris Accord disproportionately binds the U.S. economically. It restricts our autonomy and harms our workers. Those elitists and politicians who negotiated it will be on the receiving end of its profitability and inside deals on carbon credits. Those who had no say, the average working American, will bear the financial burden and become the beasts of burden by being forced into less available and lower paying jobs as a result of more jobs going overseas.

So, if you commit me to something about which I had no say, and that to which you commit me is antagonistic to my well being, don’t expect a friend of mine who shows up and who has the ability to undo what you bound me to… not to do so. That’s what President Trump did. He undid what former President Obama did and what Obama did was not in the best interest of this nation. However, and more importantly, it was not in the best interest of the planet. This is what I would have my friend understand.

One more behemoth bureaucracy will solve nothing. That is what the Paris Accord is in its present condition. It is the latest iteration, this time global, in concentrating too much power in the hands of too few in order to enslave the many.

If you spend billions, perhaps trillions, of dollars to allegedly reduce the temperature of the planet by a fraction of one degree over the next 25 years…but allow one polluting member (China) to burn enough dirty coal in 5 years to negate the benefit…well…who gets happy from that deal?… other than the Al Gores of the world who can afford to create and trade on a carbon credit exchange.

Saving the planet is no different than any other moral issue. You cannot legislate morality and you cannot pass binding agreements that demand we become the stewards of the earth that the Book of Genesis demands us to be.

Whether its moral acts toward one another or toward the planet, they will only come through an awakening of our consciousness and a change of our hearts. Such things happen “one consciousness and one heart” at a time. When enough of them have been so awakened and so changed that we reach a tipping point in our collective consciousness…well…that’s when we will save each other and the planet. Not because Angela Merkel, Barack Obama or any other elitist with a political agenda contractually binds us to.

As I listened to President Trump today tell the nation the realities of the really bad deal we committed to, I kept thinking of that line from “A Few Good Men” when Nicholson says, “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth.” Today, if you took the time to listen, President Trump told you the truth about the Paris Climate Accord. You say you want the truth? If you’re angry, it’s because you can’t handle the truth.