In a 2007 commercial, a man stands on train tracks with a train rushing toward him. “Global warming’s consequences ... won’t affect me,” he says. He steps aside, only to reveal a little girl is behind him, and the train shows no signs of stopping.
Yes, we know, pretty morbid. But this commercial, produced by the Environmental Defense and Ad Council, has a strong message about a big problem. Unless we act today, our planet will face disastrous consequences in the future.
The scientific community agrees that global warming is happening. NASA’s website has published many articles explaining how the earth is already feeling the effects. However, it seems humans aren’t feeling them in a way that’s scary enough just yet. If we don’t do something, our inaction will surely be felt and resented by future generations to come.
So, as the commercial’s metaphor suggests, climate change is one scary train chugging along toward the future of humanity, and it is crucial to know how different countries are choosing to respond.
Good thing it had substantial cover during the presidential debates then, right? Wrong. There was not a single question devoted to the candidate’s positions on climate change.
This is pretty shocking to the editorial board, considering what a massive issue it is and considering Trump’s statements on climate change have been highly controversial. In 2012 he famously tweeted, “the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.”
In numerous other tweets, he has referred to climate change a hoax. He later attempted to clarify his position, saying he has done much for the environment and was “joking.” We hope he becomes serious about this issue soon, as the U.S. president can not afford to call climate change a “hoax,” even as a joke.
Other concerns about Trump’s views on climate change center on his views regarding the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement is a monumental step in the world acknowledging climate change and pledging to help. Organized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, it opened for signatures last April and aims to help stop average temperatures from rising too high.
During Trump’s campaign, he pledged to “stop all payments of U.S. tax dollars to U.N. Global warming programs,” aka the Paris Agreement.
More than 190 countries have signed the Agreement, and many are concerned how it would look of a superpower like the U.S. refused to do their fair share to help.
Trump is not the only American to dismiss climate change as a non-issue, though. Many people still don’t believe in it, and many others find it tricky to incorporate environmental friendliness into their lifestyles.
Science has shown climate change to be very real, so why can’t we get our act together, America?
It seems the only answer is the very simple but disheartening one found in the train commercial: not enough people are willing to work for a future past their own lifetime. This is a problem.
To add to this worry, Trump has chosen Myron Ebell to head the Environmental Protection Agency. CNN reports that this decision “sent shivers through the activist community. Ebell, though not a scientist, has emerged as one of the world’s foremost climate deniers.”
There’s no denying that climate change is “gonna be yuge!” as Trump would say, but it’s our job to work harder than ever to combat it.
As the U.N. puts on their website, it is “a global challenge that does not respect national borders.”
We’re not exempt from this one, America.
No amount of red, white and blue attire or cool sparklers will make us grand enough to hide from the climate’s effects, and not talking about it won’t make it go away.
Let’s make climate change an important part of this nation’s political discourse. Perhaps we even can throw out a tweet about the icebergs melting to replace our daily Joe Biden meme.
