He蘑菇视频 going it alone
President Trump is one world leader that stands alone.
He’s the only head-of-state to have walked away from a plan that had been embraced by leaders around the world – The Paris Climate Agreement.
He’d promised he’d do it.
Last Monday he did.
While 187 countries across the globe signed onto a 2015 plan that was designed to help curb climate change, Trump has decided that anything Barack Obama signed onto – he’d try to gut.
He’s already withdrawn from Obama’s Iran Nuclear deal and the sweeping Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. So why not face worldwide scrutiny for standing alone when it comes to thwarting climate change.
It doesn’t matter if he sits in the White House and is aware of massive wildfires in California that indicate there’s a definite rise in drought because of higher global temperatures, or that sea levels are drastically rising in Asia. It probably doesn’t matter to him that there are increasing numbers of hurricanes and cyclones – and that they’re becoming far more intense than in the past.
Trump has scores to settle.
He won’t stop until the memory of Obama is completely wiped from the history books.
Ironically, the day after Trump officially pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord, 11 thousand scientists released a brand-new study that contains a startling outlook about the possibilities of the effects of climate change.
“We declare clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency,” says the dire warning. “To secure a sustainable future, we must change how we live. [This] entails major transformations in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural ecosystems.”
In other words, we are in for a heap o’ trouble if we don’t plan for the future.
Trump acted on Monday. The scientists released their report on Tuesday. And on Wednesday, though, there was another development.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced they’d met and were declaring the “irreversibility of the Paris Accord.”
They were saying they’re all in on seeking solutions to climate change, even if Donald Trump is willing to sit idly by on the sideline.
These past few months I’ve taken the time to watch BBC World News regularly. It gives me a fresh look at how people around the world view the United States in general, and Trump specifically.
I’m not heartened by what I’ve seen.
While there was limited coverage in this country, Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Accord seems to be viewed as problematic in places other than in Trump’s America.
The interconnectedness that should’ve followed the accord, has been weakened, or even shattered, by Trump’s heavy-handedness.
Even on BBC World News’ opinion shows, it appears as if there’s a steadily growing concern that relationships between the United States and other countries around the world could be diminishing thanks to Trump’s “America First” proclamations.
I discovered on BBC News’ web site that Macron wasn’t only at odds with Trump pulling out of the Paris Accord, he had strong words about Trump’s apparent disengagement from NATO.
Macron told a London-based newspaper, that thanks to Trump’s less than exuberant support, “What we are currently experiencing is the brain death of NATO.”
He’s claiming that the European signatories to the 70-year-old alliance can no longer expect the United States to defend it.
That’s not a universal feeling among NATO members. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for instance, firmly disagrees with Macron’s assessment.
But Macron’s point of view is still illustrative of how Trump might be losing support on the world stage.
All of this, as there’s an upcoming reelection battle on the horizon, and, at the same time, the U.S. House marches deliberately toward his impeachment.
Trump is fighting wars on a variety of fronts.
But impeachment is beginning to consume more and more of Trump’s attention and time.
It could be that Democrats seem to be replacing the phrase “quid pro quo,” with what it really means – extortion.
There’s no need for Latin when good old English will suffice, I suppose.
So, extortion it is.
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight and 20 year TV-news veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.