One of the key aspects of human efficiency is making decisions based on facts, data, and nonideological logic. This is a critical aspect of having an efficient government and political system.
In this post, I will stray from the topic of poverty for one week to discuss President Trump’s decision for the U.S. to leave the Paris Climate Agreement. This is another unbelievably bad decision. Even as data continues to come in indicating that we are in more and more trouble with almost all scientists now in agreement with this, the supposedly “bad deal” that was negotiated and signed in 2016 and which all but two other countries in the world signed is being exited by the U.S.
When reporters repeatedly asked his staff if the president believes that global warming is man-made, they would not provide a direct answer. Are they embarrassed to proclaim that global warming is fake if they truly believe this? Or are they afraid to admit he is wrong?
This is a most basic question that, if you look at the facts and data, is a no-brainer – it is real and a major problem for humanity. But when extreme ideology comes into play, facts and data apparently often mean little if they do not agree with a person’s ideology, or the facts and data get “misunderstood”.
Getting rid of regulations does not create jobs, it eliminates jobs. And other countries will benefit as the U.S. steps back from its leadership position, including China, India, and the EU. We don’t need to make America great again because it is already great and it is the leader in technology. But the decisions being made by the administration are putting that leadership in jeopardy.
The other travesty is that this goes against what the majority of Americans want, including Republicans. The president wants to renegotiate the agreement but with who, Mother Nature? It is not about other countries; it is about our country; it is about our world.
As also noted in the previous article, the U.S. will not leave the agreement until 2020 at the earliest. Hopefully by 2020 this decision will be reversed. The trouble is, when it comes to climate change we are running out of time.
Luckily, people who really matter such as many CEO’s, especially people such as Elon Musk, are pushing back against the president. Some states, run by fact-based, open minded governors, are doing the same. We need to let the world know that the American people will continue to do what is right to become more efficient and to do things that make sense, no matter what.
The goal of these posts is to provide the fact-based story behind issues that we are facing in this country. We can no longer allow ideology to make decisions for us when facts and data prove that we should be doing thing differently.
Next: Individual Solutions for Poverty