While it's not a great decision and one that will have a clear effect on the climate, it's not the end of all things as we know it just because we're not exactly following the Paris Agreement since there's plenty of room for alternatives in the future and it is not the be all end all of climate policy. It's also plainly obvious that the reasoning behind it is simply an effort to Ctrl+z Obama's presidency. I wholeheartedly disagree with the decision and think it's incredibly foolish, but y'all are like chickens running around with their heads cut off. Leading the way in regards to climate change would be an excellent idea, but it is not the only path towards effectual efforts against climate change and the only real impact here is entirely symbolic. There's a place for hysterical hyperbole and political discourse is not it. Well, ideally.

It's hard to say what's been lost. Personally, I think it's already game over from an environmental standpoint. We're not going to find an alternative to fossil fuel, we're obviously going to burn it all, then we won't have energy to combat our environmental devastation or just to sustain human life. Paris Accord or not we're ****ed. Or it depends on what you think ****ed is. You could also say we're lucky as ****. With hundreds of millions of years of solar energy fossilized for our ease of consumption we're probably living larger than any human beings ever had and ever will. We're like an NFL running back making 15 million a year who can't imagine he's going to be living on a hundred grand three years down the line. Headed for certain bankruptcy because there's no ****ing way in hell he'll ever adjust. Do we feel sorry for him? Not yet because we're still rolling big time.

What's the significance of the Paris Accord...the world just pretending to agree. Maybe a lot. Maybe it says we can at least visualize working together. Maybe I'm just an apocalyptic **** and there is a path. Maybe multiple realistic paths even. I don't think so but you know I'm just a ****ing troll, right? The Paris Accord was at least some kind of step possibly in the right direction. Maybe it still is for the rest of the world. How big a deal is it to intentionally walk out of step with the international community? Junior High girls don't like to be removed from the clique no matter how rich and pretty they are. People know intuitively you don't want to wander off too far or get isolated from the pack. Mother****ers get ****ed up. I'm not too keen on America going at it alone. I know we're all going to continue to pollute the **** out of the world. But since everyone else is pretending to care, shouldn't we?

I do think we should be participating in the agreement because something is better than nothing. My point is the way it's being reported as "Donald signs the world's death sentence" is too OTT. So is the downplaying on the other side.

It's all about worldwide public perception. Backing out sends a very bad message to a lot of our allies. Like I said earlier, when you have China and Europe mutually agreeing that the US has done something stupid - that says a lot.

I get that, I just don't consider it to be as severe as you and many others do. I don't hold any kind of respect for my country or its offices to begin with, so maybe that's colouring me obtuse here.

I definitely agree.

Well, imagine life for the citizens of countries that have been ostracized from the world community and ask yourself if that's a life you want to live.

Examples of this happening to countries with a monopoly on being the world's superpower though? It's a possibility but I don't think it's a surefire formula tbh.

I think it's debatable that we hold such a monopoly but ok good point. That brings me back to the pretty rich girl in junior high. She still doesn't want to go at it alone. I'm personally very uncomfortable alienating everyone except Saudi Arabia and the Philippines but you're right. It's debatable how much domestic damage Trump's unorthodox foreign policy is doing. I think losing our alignment with Europe is really bad.

I have marked this day on my calender. :p: