In a World Facing the Collective Threat of Climate Change Donald Trump Draws the Curtain and Closes the Door

September 25, 2019 – In his speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations yesterday, President of the United States, Donald Trump, made it quite clear that division is much preferred to cooperation in the council of nations. He told the world that under his leadership the American military had received a $2.5 trillion investment to shield it from any other nation asserting world dominance. Then he went on to tell the representatives of the world that “the future does not belong to globalists. The future belongs to patriots. The future belongs to sovereign and independent nations.”

He told his audience that “Each nation represented in this hall has a cherished history, culture, and heritage worth defending and celebrating which gives us our singular potential and strength. The free world must embrace its national foundations. It must not attempt to erase them or replace them. Looking around, and all over this large magnificent planet, the truth is plain to see. If you want freedom, take pride in your country. If you want democracy, hold onto your sovereignty. And if you want peace, love your nation. Wise leaders always put the good of their own people and their own country first.”

The irony of the speech is the lack of any reference to saving the environment, and the planet even though the latest US polls show that Americans put protecting the environment well ahead of concerns about the economy.

And that a growing plurality of Americans believe that climate change as an issue is being generally underestimated (42%) versus those who believe as an issue it is exaggerated (35%).

In the same poll Gallup asked the question “How much do you personally worry about the quality of the environment?” For the first time, 74% of Americans indicated they worried about a great deal or fair amount, while 8% stated they had no worries.

A President concerned about the citizens of his country, one would think, would recognize that the future of the environment was one of the best ways to ensure the future of its democracy, sovereignty, and safety. But alas, this President continues to take a wrecking ball to environmental protections, pollution standards, and the promise of “clean air and clean water” that he has often espoused in lieu of giving national support to a global effort to adapt and mitigate climate change which knows no borders, and can leap across any wall or moat built in the name of protecting national sovereignty.

A future worth protecting is one where the nations of the world collectively respond to the threat of climate change, sea-level rise, and carbon pollution. It is not one of erecting barriers to secure pride of country and an isolationist stance.

Trump’s United States is a growing fortress where citizens and the military are armed to the teeth. Trump’s America proclaims itself to be a defender of the entire planet yet concerned with its parochial interests and fending off the evils of globalists, and socialists. That’s the picture this President described in yesterday’s speech which you can reprise here.