With the recent storms and earthquakes, I have heard several people question if they are a product of global warming. Whether or not this is true, the Earth’s climate is starting to change and the United States should be doing something to stop global warming.

President Donald Trump should rejoin the Paris Climate Accord. The Paris Climate Accord is an agreement between nations to limit greenhouse gas emissions in order to prevent average global temperatures from rising. The United States is the second largest emitter of carbon in the world and should thus be involved in the fight against climate change. After all, climate change could have so many destructive results on the Earth. These could range from melting ice sheets, to awful droughts, to terrible natural disasters.

In addition to agreeing to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, the Obama administration promised financial aid to poorer countries to help with their clean energy plans. The financial support would also aid them in adapting to the effects of climate change, should they arise. In pulling out of the agreement, President Trump is harming the efforts against climate change of many countries, not just the United States.

Furthermore, pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord may cause diplomatic problems for the United States in the future. Some countries might not be willing to stand with the United States on other issues, as we did not stand with them on the issue of climate change. This is especially a problem because the only other countries who did not agree to the Accord were Venezuela and Syria, and Venezuela is planning on signing it in the future.

Many Americans agree with the Trump administration’s stance on this issue on two grounds. The first argument is that climate change is not a man made problem. However, many scientists agree that the burning of fossil fuels, a human endeavor, has increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and, therefore, increased the average temperature of the Earth. The second argument is that the Paris Climate Accord will reduce the amount of jobs available in the United States. However, the jobs lost would be in the coal or oil industries, which are generally unpleasant and often dangerous jobs. Also, there will be more jobs for creating renewable sources of energy. It is short-sighted to only look at how the deal will impact the United States now, and not how it will affect the United States in the future.

The United States should rejoin the Paris Climate Deal and recommit to the promises the Obama administration made. This will help our political alliances, the climate in our country, and our world as a whole. There is a problem with our Earth and the United States should be involved in the effort to fix it.

Kathleen Kenney 

A&E Writer