Mustering Thanksgiving Gratitude

This year the United States celebrates Thanksgiving under the dark cloud of President-elect Trump who has promised to stop climate action and roll back environmental protections. Being grateful this year is harder than ever. However, we have reason to celebrate the Paris Agreement and the climate leadership of President Barack Obama. We can be thankful for more traditional reasons like the fall harvest and the bounty that nature provides.

We can also remember the origins of this holiday, specifically how the early European settlers were welcomed by Native peoples who helped them to survive and showed them how to live in harmony with nature. Although white people have proven to be very poor students, indigenous people continue to show the way, this includes ongoing efforts to protect the planet from the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).

While we have reason to be thankful for the Paris Agreement, we also have reason to be concerned that Trump will deliver on his promise to back out of the deal. Even here there is cause for optimism. Trump has recently indicated that he may be softening his stance on climate change. He said he is keeping an open mind on whether or not to back out of the deal and he appears that he now acknowledges some degree of anthropogenic warming.

As reported by Reuters Trump Says He's Keeping an 'Open Mind' on Pulling Out of Paris Climate Accord. Earlier this week Trump said: "I’m looking at it very closely. I have an open mind to it." Trump told the New York Times that he thinks there is "some connectivity" between human activity and global warming. According to a Tweet from the New York Times reporter that interviewed him, Trump is looking at the implications for American competitiveness by examining "how much it will cost our companies."

Independent of what the forthcoming administration will or will not do,  we have reason to be grateful for this planet upon which we depend for our lives and our happiness. With gratitude comes the responsibility to protect, preserve and restore nature's bounty for ourselves and for future generations. Let us also remember those who work to advance climate action and protect our environment.

The struggle may be more difficult, but so is the urgency to act.

The Green Market Oracle is grateful for your readership and together we will continue to work towards a more sustainable future.

Wishing you all a happy holiday full of hope and environmental gratitude.

Richard Matthews
Owner and Principle Writer
The Green Market Oracle

SHARE

Melili

• 
• 
• 
• 
•