I first met Reed Schuler when he was 11, one of our American kids, one of Trouble & Trouble’s four Seattle siblings. He was the oldest of the three boys and three girls, the most fast talking and undoubtably brightest, no one would argue that. Annoyingly smart.
Debate was a given on his school curriculum, won all the contests as I remember, even traveling in the subject. He grew up in a family where politics was always on the table, so the schooling for arguments and making ones point came early.
Somewhere in junior high Trouble & Trouble made the situation clear to him: Reed, we will never call you Mr President when you are in the Oval Office!
It did not come as a surprise to us when Reed ended up as a climate change negotiator in the Barack Obama White House. Our hearts were bursting of pride watching him side by side with John Kerry at the Paris Agreement negotiations and even more when the accord was signed.
I mean, we are all (at least many of us) doing our little part. Recycling, warming our houses with green energy, trying to not over consume, eat less meat or none at all etc. But Reed Schuler has been one of the men and women sweating to make the world leaders come to an agreement aiming for to save the planet!
Since Donald Trump took office in January most every week has been the worst week for this White House. Some have been the worst week for the country. But this week has been the worst for the planet and generations to come.
There is a lot to say about Donald Trump, as we know. Ignorant is a word frequently used, especially this week. A word I have been pondering about this winter is one he uses a lot himself: unfair. And being treated unfair.
If you think about it, it’s not that often you hear grown ups talking in terms of being treated unfair.
Donald Trump though seems to carry that perspective on many things. NATO is treating US unfairly and should be paying back retroactive. The different trade agreements are unfair to the US and should be repealed. By that stance Mexico apparently owes the US years of money. And now the Paris Agreement is unfair to the US.
What I see here is a baby brother standing in the middle of the floor screaming to his siblings: UNFAIR, UNFAIR, UNFAIR, UNFAIR!!!!
If someone would try to tell Donald Trump it’s unfair to the poorest countries in the world and to future generations to treat the planet like we do, he of course wouldn’t listen. As he is always right and never wrong. Infantile.
Fortunately the fight for saving the planet for generations to come will continue. By us who are only doing our share by recycling and by world leaders with different perspectives than Donald Trump. And on this dark Thursday in our environmental history Reed Schuler posted on Facebook:
The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Today, as President Trump further abandons moral leadership by announcing his intent to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, the arc gets a little longer, and justice slips a little further from sight. This fight isn't close to over, though, and it was never easy in the first place. I'm not going to quit fighting, and I don't know anyone in the cause who is.
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