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John Kerry WP oped: Why I am an optimist this earth day
Despite all the reasons for concern and condemnation that I could dwell on, I’m an optimist this Earth Day. I’m an optimist because of the lesson I learned on the first Earth Day 47 years ago when I was one of 20 million Americans who took to the streets to demand that leaders protect our environment. Before that first Earth Day, there was no Environmental Protection Agency, no Clean Water Act, no Clean Air Act as we know it. Citizens created the demand signal — and politicians followed because they had no choice.
What a journey from 1970 to Earth Day 2016, when I joined leaders from more than 100 nations to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change. When it was my turn to take the pen, my 2-year-old granddaughter was on my lap. Earth Day was no longer just an American impulse — it was the entire world coming together to protect the future for Isabelle and children everywhere.
I know that on Earth Day 2017, that future feels a little less certain, and understandably so. But — for the same reason 1970’s people-powered activism turned power structures upside down — something big has already begun around the world that can be slowed but not stopped.
<snip>
I spent Election Day 2016 headed to Antarctica, where I talked with researchers who didn’t mince words. A scientist named Gavin Dunbar described what they’re seeing there as an unmistakable “canary in the coal mine.” He warned that “some thresholds, if we cross them, cant be reversed.” The Trump administration may decide to bet against scientists like Dunbar and his colleagues. But rest assured: Most Americans stand with the world in making a different bet — a bet on science, a bet on reality. We understand that we have to move forward, with or without Washington.
What a journey from 1970 to Earth Day 2016, when I joined leaders from more than 100 nations to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change. When it was my turn to take the pen, my 2-year-old granddaughter was on my lap. Earth Day was no longer just an American impulse — it was the entire world coming together to protect the future for Isabelle and children everywhere.
I know that on Earth Day 2017, that future feels a little less certain, and understandably so. But — for the same reason 1970’s people-powered activism turned power structures upside down — something big has already begun around the world that can be slowed but not stopped.
<snip>
I spent Election Day 2016 headed to Antarctica, where I talked with researchers who didn’t mince words. A scientist named Gavin Dunbar described what they’re seeing there as an unmistakable “canary in the coal mine.” He warned that “some thresholds, if we cross them, cant be reversed.” The Trump administration may decide to bet against scientists like Dunbar and his colleagues. But rest assured: Most Americans stand with the world in making a different bet — a bet on science, a bet on reality. We understand that we have to move forward, with or without Washington.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/john-kerry-why-im-an-optimist-this-earth-day/2017/04/21/bdd5128a-26b6-11e7-b503-9d616bd5a305_story.html?utm_term=.730b7ed80de1#comments
I miss having a President and Secretary of State who always made me proud. I love John Kerry's optimism, for which he makes a strong intellectual case. It has to be painful seeing Trump willing to trample on hard won accomplishments, but what is completely clear is that around the world decisions have been made -- that would not have happened without that agreement -- moving the world in the right direction. I love his call to activism. This oped is one more reason why I respect Kerry as much as I do.
