On his first day in office, Biden rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement. The Paris Climate Agreement aims to reduce greenhouse gasses and rising global temperatures and each nation has to do their part to reduce emissions (Paris Climate Agreement: Everything You Need to Know). Currently the United States is the second highest producer of greenhouse gasses and Donald Trump decided to pull out of the agreement during his presidency (Paris Climate Agreement: Everything You Need to Know). I would say that for us to leave the agreement was a bigger deal than us rejoining it because we are causing so much of the problem and nearly every country has endorsed the deal (Paris Climate Agreement: Everything You Need to Know). You’d think we would have submitted to peer pressure at the very least. The last country to sign was Syria in the middle of a war, so I think this speaks volumes about the U.S (Paris Climate Agreement: Everything You Need to Know).
Rejoining the Climate Agreement is a big deal obviously, as it shows we are in a new era. I’m not saying that joining this agreement means we’ve fixed climate change and can relax by any means. Now that we’ve joined, we actually have to commit to reaching our goals, and getting our huge corporations on board with the plan, which will be no small feat. I am also concerned that the United States does not have as much time as we think because in four years we will have another election that could result in another climate change denier holding office. These four years with Biden and Harris will be crucial and we will have to fight tooth and nail to get as much done as possible so that we won’t completely be up the creek without a paddle if someone new takes office.
I also believe that while rejoining this agreement is an important step, it doesn’t address what we have to do for our citizens most affected by climate change and pollution. We’ve been talking about this topic a lot in class, and my hope for the Biden administration is that this agreement will encourage him to push the Green New Deal, which will focus more on helping black communities, other communities of color, and low income communities impacted most by the climate crisis. We also need to emphasize local issues and local solutions because those affect people day-to-day more than a national solution. I hope that this step will lead to pressure on state and local governments to make important and necessary changes.
Overall, I am happy that Biden has taken this step, and I do believe it will lead to better laws and regulations if we keep pushing for them.
"Paris Climate Agreement: Everything You Need to Know." National Resources
Defense Council, 12 Dec. 2018, www.nrdc.org/stories/
paris-climate-agreement-everything-you-need-know. Accessed 26 Jan. 2021.
I am really glad that Biden re-joined the Paris Climate Agreement. I think that we as a country we need to work hard to help our climate. In addition, this opens the door for the Green New Deal and other things like that. To me, the Green New Deal seems like a great choice for our country. It would create jobs, help combat climate change, and help certain communities. I think a lot of the opposition is very political because I doubt many people would be against a job creation bill if it had nothing to do with climate change.
ReplyDeleteIt was honestly appalling to me when Trump chose to leave it. The blatant disregard for science and the health of his citizens. I'm glad we've rejoined, but I think when Trump chose to leave, he was backed by many Americans, which is yet another scary thought. There's still clearly a lot of work to do, especially in educating ourselves and others about what's really happening.
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