179 other countries are committed to the Paris climate treaty for good reason.
179 other countries are not threatening to back out of a climate treaty for good reason.
When it comes to solving this issue, we lost an embarrassing amount of momentum during the election run up (climate as a matter of global security was ignored completely by major party candidates as we experienced the hottest year on record…).
If there’s an upside to our collective failure to attend to this crisis, it’s that other nations are seriously entertaining strategies for using $$ as a tariff lever to hold US companies accountable for the carbon dioxide emissions in their products (on a product-by-product basis).
If we should become something other than the most powerful nation in the world in order to preserve the habitability of the planet — and if this happens because of our wholesale failure to consume thoughtfully/with global sensitivity/empathy for those on the other ends of product life cycles (and the resulting concentrations of power with people who could give a shit about other humans) — so be it.
We (each of us) have huge opportunities to consume differently – and our individual choices add up to the collective choices (via dollars spent) we’re now facing. If we aren’t willing/able to hold our own companies and communities (and politicians) accountable for their negative social and environmental impacts, then perhaps it’s good that others are prepared to do so.
And if we’re ready to do something about it, we can (and should) start now.