I was surprised by the response to his announcement. By my limited understanding, this country was out as soon as the (electoral) votes were counted; the president's decision was mere formality.
And yet, the announcement on June 1 was presented on TV as 'breaking news'. Apparently, the thought was that, despite six months of evidence to the contrary, concepts like 'advisers' and 'senators' and 'logic' were still considered capable of swaying the president's decision.
When the announcement came, the coverage made it seem like a big deal. Commentators and pundits across the globe weighed in to condemn or criticize the decision. Many took to The Good Ol' Interwebs to share their opinions- tweeting outrage, expressing disbelief, maybe even uploading videos of themselves sadly shaking their heads.
I thought my immediate reaction was logical- I looked up what the Paris Agreement was. I suppose I should be embarrassed, ashamed, or resolve to read CNN.com more after admitting this but whatever- in my defense, no one ever bothered to bring up this 'landmark' deal during any conversation I was involved in. This, despite the many proclamations regarding global warming, climate change, carbon emissions, and so on that I've had to listen to over the years. On June 1, I had no other choice but to log on and figure life out for myself!
After a little browsing, I've condensed the basics below for you, dear reader:
The Paris Agreement (noun)- A bunch of politicians got together, years ago, probably all flying in on energy-guzzling airplanes to meet in one location, air-conditioners likely on full fossil-fueled blast, and decided to start 'tracking' global warming indicators. Not right then, mind, but in the future, specifically 2020, which was at least five years away given that the agreement was signed in 2015.I learned almost all of this on Wikipedia, the internet's largest encyclopedia and general reference work. According to Wikipedia's Wikipedia entry, Wikipedia was founded in 2001 with the idea that anyone could create and edit entries for the sake of compiling all the world's knowledge into one place. Today, it has grown to contain over forty million articles in just under three hundred languages.
The most impressive thing I learned was about a peer-reviewed study conducted in 2005 by Nature, a scientific journal. Nature found that the accuracy of Wikipedia's science articles 'approached' the Encyclopedia Britannica's. This result was achieved despite the obvious concerns about accuracy, bias, and vandalism that plagued Wikipedia in its early years and led many to question its validity as a reliable source of truth.
I realized something as I read about the history of Wikipedia- this is how big changes happen. It happens when people interested in a common goal larger than themselves come together and relentlessly make small, daily, and incremental contributions toward it. That is the one and only way.
Politicians coming together to shake hands, pat backs, and sign agreements help, of course. And when these same deals fall apart, it can often seem like all progress is grinding to a halt. But remember that we grant our elected officials their power. They represent the common interests of their electorates, of us- whether those with certain rooting interests like to acknowledge it or not.
The best way for individuals to work around policy-level disappointments isn't to complain about who did what or to scheme about how to vote in the next election. It is to find a way to bring people together and work toward the larger goals that matter to us. It is to change the interests of the electorate through small, daily, and incremental contributions so that any politician who runs for office must represent those same interests to stand any chance of victory.
In the wake of the decision to leave the Paris Agreement, I think the best response is for people who are truly upset to come together and commit to making their own incremental contributions. We could call it the Pittsburgh Agreement- a city I chose entirely at random by sticking a pin into a map while blindfolded- except for the obstacle that such an agreement already exists (signed in 1918...according to...you got it...Wikipedia). Maybe we'll throw 'climate' into the title, just to differentiate it a little bit.
But whatever it ends up being called or not called, I think outlining and adhering to this agreement would help give the world a bottom-up push toward the top-down goals of the Paris Agreement. It certainly couldn't hurt. My first outline is below.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
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1) The Pittsburgh Climate Agreement (hereafter referred to as 'PCA') is a non-binding agreement among free thinking individuals to make tiny, trivial contributions towards the larger goals of the Paris Agreement.
2) Signatories of the PCA agree to make any or no effort at completing all, some, or none of the following whenever it is possible to do so in a safe and/or convenient manner:
*Carpooling
*Reducing unnecessary use of water
*Cycling
*Recycling
*Driving with properly inflated tires
*Running around town properly inflating car tires
*Moving to a home or apartment that reduces commuting time
*Reusing towels after showers
*Drip-drying after showers
*Not showering
*Replacing old light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs
*Getting by on natural light
*Learning to see in the dark
*Hang-drying clothing
*Deciding to stop wearing clothing
(...and probably, several thousand other more helpful things...)
3) Signatories of the PCA agree to add new items to the partial list in #2 above as they become aware of said item's ability to contribute to the goals outlined in #1.
4) Signatories of the PCA agree to remove any items from the partial list in #2 above as they become aware of said item's conflict with the goals outlined in #1.
5) Signatories agree to recognize the spirit of the PCA- 'many hands make light work'. When someone must drive, a fellow signatory will walk. When someone must walk, a fellow signatory will still walk, possibly together, to make pointless small talk about the (apparently quickly changing) weather.
