Make Our Planet Great Again

Red Baron followed POTUS's announcement on the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement live. With this action, the US now forms a tripartite alliance with Syria and Nicaragua; these were the only two countries that did not sign the Paris Agreement.

Green Peace projection onto the American embassy building in Berlin (©Reuters)

The reactions of most world leaders to POTUS's decision were drastic and dramatic. I will only cite the one of French President Emmanuel Macron exceptionally addressing his American colleague in English so POTUS will not be troubled with a fake translation: Make our planet great again. At the same time, Macron invited American environmental scientists who lost their jobs in the States to work in France.

Paris townhall illuminated in green following POTUS's announcement (©Europe1)

Let me cite some passages from POTUS's speech and make a few personal comments:

As President, I can put no other consideration before the well-being of American citizens. The Paris Climate Accord is simply the latest example of Washington entering into an agreement that disadvantages the United States to the exclusive benefit of other countries, leaving American workers -- who I love -- and taxpayers to absorb the cost in terms of lost jobs, lower wages, shuttered factories, and vastly diminished economic production.

These statements are fair enough if we leave out those agreements where the US bamboozled other countries, but POTUS has a point I shall return to later.

Further, while the current agreement effectively blocks the development of clean coal in America -- which it does, and the mines are starting to open up. We're having a big opening in two weeks. Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, so many places. A big opening of a brand-new mine. It's unheard of. For many, many years, that hasn't happened. They asked me if I'd go. I'm going to try...

Even though the last sentences of the above paragraph are incomprehensible, I must tell you: Mr. President, there is no such thing as clean coal!

The United States, under the Trump administration, will continue to be the cleanest and most environmentally friendly country on Earth. We'll be the cleanest. We're going to have the cleanest air. We're going to have the cleanest water. We will be environmentally friendly, but we're not going to put our businesses out of work, and we're not going to lose our jobs. We're going to grow; we're going to grow rapidly. (Applause.)

Great, fantastic. In fact, there will be no problem if the United States continues to be the cleanest and most environmentally friendly country on Earth. That's even better than the Paris Agreement.

POTUS continued:

I will work to ensure that America remains the world's leader on environmental issues, but under a framework that is fair and where the burdens and responsibilities are equally shared among the many nations all around the world.

And he is coming back to the unfair treatment of the States by other countries:

The same nations asking us to stay in the agreement are the countries that have collectively cost America trillions of dollars through tough trade practices and, in many cases, lax contributions to our critical military alliance. You see what's happening. It's pretty obvious to those that want to keep an open mind.

At what point does America get demeaned? At what point do they start laughing at us as a country? We want fair treatment for its citizens, and we want fair treatment for our taxpayers. We don't want other leaders and other countries laughing at us anymore. And they won't be. They won't be.

The States have indeed paid billions of dollars to foreign countries. We Germans still remember and are grateful for the help after the war. The Marshall Plan restarted our economy. Also, the many CARE packages are not forgotten. It was America and its atomic shield that assured the freedom of Western Europe during the Cold War. There were times when I admired the States, and I never laughed.

As President, I have one obligation, and that obligation is to the American people. The Paris Accord would undermine our economy, hamstring our workers, weaken our sovereignty, impose unacceptable legal risks, and put us at a permanent disadvantage to the other countries of the world. It is time to exit the Paris Accord -- (applause) -- and time to pursue a new deal that protects the environment, our companies, our citizens, and our country. Thank you.

POTUS ended his speech, as usual, promising everything simultaneously. His new deal should protect the environment, our companies, citizens, and our country. He forgot to add "our finances."

*