President Trump & the Paris Agreement

03 Saturday Jun 2017

Posted by michelinewalker in democracy, the environment, The United States

Tags

Abraham Lincoln, democracy, Emmanuel Macron, Michael Bloomberg, President Trump, Richard Branson, The Paris Agreement, the United States

The Paris Agreement

It may be wise not to look upon President Donald Trump’s defection from the 2015 Paris Agreement (l’Accord de Paris) as a decision dooming our ailing planet. Nor can it be seen as reflecting the will of the citizens of the United States. Climate change remains a major concern for countries around the world, the survival of planet Earth being at stake. If planet Earth dies, we all die. With respect to climate change, action cannot be delayed as we are already seconds before midnight.

Three European Nations React

A mere hour after President Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, Italy, Germany, and France stated jointly that the Paris Agreement could not be renegotiated. (See United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Wikipedia.)

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-climatechange-eu-idUSKBN18S6GN?wpisrc=nl_energy202&wpmm=1

France: a Refuge to American Scientists

Again, a mere hour after Mr Trump made his decision public, French President Emmanuel Macron offered a refuge in France to American climate scientists. Some of these scientists, and they are numerous and highly skilled, have gone to Washington and warned President Trump of the imminent danger climate change posed, but to no avail. It could well be that the President’s decision is not an American decision, but Donald Trump’s decision. Ironically, President Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, opposed the President’s decision.

https://theintercept.com/2017/06/01/french-president-emmanuel-macron-offers-refuge-american-climate-scientists/

http://www.businessinsider.com/france-president-emmanuel-macron-donald-trump-paris-agreement-rebuke-2017-6
(apologies: technical difficulties)

The United States Resists

http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-bloomberg-paris-agreement-coalition-2017-6

But I am also reading that there is considerable resistance in the United States. After listening to former President Obama’s farewell address, I wrote that he probably felt that a democracy was its own corrective or “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” (Abraham Lincoln ‘s Gettysburg Address.)

“Thirty cities, three states, more than 80 university presidents, and more than 100 companies are part of a growing group intending to uphold the Paris Agreement, the climate-change accord that President Donald Trump on Thursday announced the US would be exiting.”

The group is being organized by billionaire philanthropist Michael Bloomberg.

Michael Bloomberg, the UN special envoy for cities and climate change, at the C40 Mayors Summit in Mexico City on December 1. Reuters

Conclusion

After Mr Trump’s visit to Europe, Chancellor Merkel‘s political rivals agreed with her that Europe would have to look after itself. However, it turns out that Mr Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement has unleashed widespread disappointment, in the United States in particular, but also everywhere.

Mr Trump may be a dangerous man, but he is predictable. He announced that he would not allow Muslims to enter the United States and is now planning another travel ban, but Americans will find a way to defeat it. Three men were stabbed and two died protecting Muslim women on a train in Portland, Oregon. The United States has long been a refuge to the oppressed. President Trump’s Islamophobia has not affected all the citizens of the United States. Besides, it is selective. He travelled to Saudi Arabia and signed an arms deal.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/26/us/portland-train-stabbing/

President Trump is also trying to take away from Americans what protection they enjoyed under the Affordable Act Care. Law-abiding American citizens pay their taxes and are therefore entitled to the security citizens of other and poorer countries enjoy.

The next link takes the reader to comments by Sir Richard Branson who may be saying that, in a democracy, if a people is threatened, it will rush to its own rescue.

http://www.businessinsider.com/richard-branson-donald-trump-president-2016-11
(apologies: technical difficulties)

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Micheline Walker
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WordPress

The New Yorker on the French Election

07 Sunday May 2017

Posted by michelinewalker in French Election 2017

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Cyber Attack, Emmanuel Macron, Marine Le Pen, President Obama, The European Union, The New Yorker

After Sunday’s victories for Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, neither of France’s traditional leading parties will have a candidate in a Presidential election for the first time in sixty years. PHOTOGRAPH BY FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI / AFP / GETTY

: “The French election is very important to the future of France and the values that we care so much about,” the former President Barack Obama says in a video [at the foot of this post] endorsing the front-runner, Emmanuel Macron. PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY EMMANUEL MACRON / TWITTER

The New Yorker

In its recent issues, The New Yorker has published several articles on the French election. I was busy buying a new apartment and wasn’t as vigilant regarding the future of France and of the European Union as I should have been.

Preface by the author of this post

In this analysis, we must think locally and globally. If Marine Le Pen is elected, we could lose Europe to extremists. We cannot do this as we have to put an end to terrorism. If France elects extremist Marine Le Pen, both France and Europe would live the nightmare created by those who believe that keeping immigrants out, or getting rid of them, will stop terrorism. That is not how it works.

Polarization

Extremism feeds polarization, which is a terrible danger and one that may lead to a high degree of division and, possibly, war. Extremists won the American election. Too many people were of the opinion that forbidding Muslims from entering the United States would keep the United States safe.

An appropriate reading of the words “great again” could be that America will not use the money levied through taxation to serve everyone. Besides, Mr Trump has been acting like an autocrat. The United States is a democracy which is how it is great.

Nepotism

I like Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, but their appointment to the highest level of Mr Trump’s administration is nepotism. More importantly, members of Mr Trump’s own family think he must be watched. Mr Trump cannot control his emotions. Yet, as commander-in-chief, he can push the wrong button. I am quoting President Obama.

A forgotten middle class and poverty

Mr Trump’s great America is a country where the poor and the middle-class support the wealthy and where the poor die in pain because they cannot afford the high premiums demanded by Insurance Companies. The Republicans may destroy Obamacare, the Affordable Health Care.

Can Obama’s Hope Sway the French Election

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/can-obamas-hope-sway-the-french-election
Alexandra Schwartz

Former American President Barack Obama has endorsed Monsieur Macron’s candidacy. He knows very well that a Le Pen victory is a loss for France, for Europe, and for the world.

In an article published in The New Yorker, Alexandra Schwartz wonders whether President Obama can sway public opinion in France. That is very difficult. However, Barack Obama’s opinion carries considerable weight. Marine Le Pen wishes to “send them home,” which reminds me that Hitler believed killing Europe’s Jews would save Germany. How naïve! When the poor German nation realized that Hitler had a genocide in mind, it was too late. Dissenters had to kneel down and were shot in the back of the neck.

The Future of Europe hinges on a Face-Off in France

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/08/the-future-of-europe-hinges-on-a-face-off-in-france?intcid=popular
Lauren Collins

Fortunately, the United States is located on the other side of the Atlantic. The French, however, live in continental Europe and it is easy to peddle fear. Scaring the people into electing Marine Le Pen could lead to the dissolution of the EU. Europeans need the European Union and so does the world. Power has to be distributed. Poor German Chancellor Angela Merkel would have to negotiate Frexit. Poor German Chancellor Angela Merkel would have to negotiate a Frexit!

Marine Le Pen’s Memoir: a Dutiful Daughter’s sanitizing of far-right Politics

http://www.newyorker.com/books/second-read/marine-le-pens-memoir-a-dutiful-daughters-sanitizing-of-far-right-politics?intcid=popular
Moira Weigel

Vive l’Europe! A Macron win would give the E. U. a Life Line

http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/vive-leurope-a-macron-win-would-give-the-e-u-a-lifeline
John Cassidy

Everyday of the Trump Presidency bring another outrage or embarrassment

Below, I have inserted an article and, perhaps, a video by David Remnick of The New Yorker. It is about President Trump. He’s dangerous, but it would be my opinion that Marine Le Pen is more dangerous.

Every day of the Trump Presidency brings another outrage or embarrassment, David Remnick writes:… twitter.com/i/web/status/8…—
The New Yorker (@NewYorker) May 06, 2017

A Cyber Attack

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3495285/emmanuel-macron-cyber-attack-hacked-emails/

Emmanuel Macron who is expected to be France’s next President was the victim of a cyber attack. What happened during the United States electoral campaign is happening in France. Will hackers sabotage democracy?

I hope sincerely that this will not jeopardize Emmanuel Macron’s candidacy. The attack may be a good sign. Emmanuel Macron was targeted, not Marine Le Pen’s Front national. This may indicate that the hackers believe Monsieur Macron is likely to be the next President of France.

“Ne vous trumpez pas !” Don’t make a mistake.

Emmanuel Macron is leading …

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