Alternate headline: Should the United States issue a formal apology for being so darn productive and advanced?
Should the United States Issue a Formal Apology for Climate Change?
It’s 2017 and the newly elected president of the United States is apologizing to the world for its contribution to environmental injustices at home and globally. Could this happen? Should it happen?
There’s a long list of historic environmental injustices that the United States has inflicted upon its own peoples and cultures, and globally. Environmental racism (where environmental laws, policies and practices have differentially affected individuals, groups of communities based on race or colour), the watered-down approach of American companies toward corporate social responsibility, and its significant contribution towards climate change all form part of an embarrassing environmental scorecard.
As a proud and courageous nation, the United States should be honest with itself. It’s time for the damaging and dangerous notions, fantasies, and myths of American exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny that continue to influence some elements of the nation’s political ideology to be confined to history.
Uh huh.
So, why apologize?
Over the past few years, there have been a number of political apologies offered by nations for historical and more recent injustices.[2]
As a nation, any empathy toward its neighbours brings with it feelings of shame and guilt for some aspects of its way of life. Through apologizing, that dignity and self-esteem could be restored.[3]
Our fragile planet demands that we renew and focus our energies on the resolution of conflicts, and that it is done in a way that does not simply submerge the resentments that inevitably accompany such conflicts but acknowledges and responds to them. I believe that apologizing can help in that effort.
But apologizing is more than merely an acknowledgment of offences together with an expression of remorse. It is an ongoing commitment to change the nation’s behaviour. It is a process that requires of all parties attitudes of honesty, generosity, humility, commitment, and courage.
Strange. This almost sounds like “climate change” is all part of a greater far, far left Progressive agenda. Of course, mentioning “honesty” in a discussion of “climate change”, considering all the lies Warmists have told, is a hoot.
But, hey, I’ll tell you what, I’ll agree to Mr. Paul Collins’ call for an apology when every member of the Cult of Climastrology proves an apology is needed by giving up their own use of fossil fuels and go carbon neutral in their own lives.
This apology business is pure bovine feces; we’ve had people who were never, ever involved with the slave trade apologizing for slavery. Hey, the people who owned slaves were the ones who were involved, and they not only didn’t apologize, but fought a war to continue their right to own slaves.
Even if climate change is real, and caused by industrialized society, I do not apologize for reaping the benefits of that industrialized society, nor would I accept as genuine the apology of anyone else who continued to reap the benefits of industrialized society; I’d call that person a hypocrite.
Leading up to WW2 the world was awash with progressivism.
The turn of the century Europe saw the movement sweep Europe and eventually it led to the Communist revolution in Russia in 1915-1917.
It rushed across the shores to America and we saw our first president in Teddy Roosevelt become president….after being defeated he attempted a comeback 15 years later with The Bull Moose Party as a few blown progressive.
America became Isolationist as it is becoming today….the world be damned….IF we all just sing kumbyeahh the world will be a lovely place.
In fact the world became a total and abject MESS because of progressivism…..not that progressivism is necessarily bad….its that its so full of appeasement and peace brother and social equality in a world full of madmen that it fails hopelessly in its goal of making the world a better place.
On a different planet at a different time I could easily be a progressive but not here, not today and not ever given a world rapidly imploding because their is no leadership and there is now one that gives a damn about anyone or anything except themselves.
Chamberlain said it best…...We should seek by all means in our power to avoid war, by analysing possible causes, by trying to remove them, by discussion in a spirit of collaboration and good will.
Neville Chamberlain
It is their mantra….notice how so eerily similar this is to todays progressives that dominate the Democratic party and for the most part dominate the world activists?!
Apologize for something that’s been going on for over 4 billion years. Ok
No.