Editor’s note: Martin Clarke is an English businessman.
Approximately 138 million Americans have a passport. That means approximately 54 percent don’t have a passport and can’t leave the country and return safely. Of the 138 million who can leave approximately, 2 million Americans visit Paris annually. Yes, that’s less than 1 percent of the total population.
“Where is Paris?” some may say. Indeed, even fewer will know what the Paris Climate Agreement details are, yet Thursday, President Donald Trump has dumped whatever it is and, in wanting “to make America great again,” wants to renegotiate whatever it is. The agreement’s effect, he claims, will rob America of $3 trillion. None of us know of course, but the duly elected president has decided. This decision should be respected.
The real climate against the economic climate is a difficult call, yet in God we trust. Our choice of leaders is made, and we are called to pray for them. The president has not abandoned the principle of climate protection, as he wants to renegotiate in readiness for 2020 when the current Paris Accord allows an American exit. Today, as NASA seeks to touch the sun and plan the 34 million-mile mission to Mars, home Earth needs that special care.
2020 marks the 400th anniversary of the pilgrim fathers coming off the Mayflower and landing at Plymouth Rock. It also marks the end of the president’s first term and the exit from the Paris Accord. Anything can happen, and that is the beauty of democracy and the American Constitution. One thing we do know is that the American people in 400 years have created the most prosperous and most successful nation on the planet Earth. Let me remind you that in approximately 16 generations and under 45 presidents, this has been achieved.
Please, America, stop bashing yourselves and your leaders. Celebrate all that you have achieved, manage properly all that you have created and be thankful for what God has done. We have more elections next week in Britain, and there may well be another surprise. Your dollar has strengthened since we decided to Brexit, so please help your 400-year-old cousins and encourage more to get their passports to come back and see us. We have a new “May-flower”; her name is Theresa. But do come quickly, as she may not be around for too long.
Pray that Paris gets renegotiated, but more importantly, pray for your leader. Job 38 speaks of God’s control of the climate, and in God we must trust. Man will let you down, of course, but in the words of our great Winston Churchill: “America will always do the right thing.” {eoa}
Martin Clarke is a London businessman and a member of Holy Trinity Brompton Anglican Church in London.
