Climate Change and Trump’s Board-Game Patriotism, an essay on The Huffington Post website by Associate Professor of Government Peter F. Cannavo, begins by quoting from President Trump’s inaugural address. “Trump talked about ‘open[ing] your heart to patriotism.’ … From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first, America first.”
Cannavo’s essay proceeded to question what patriotism and national interest entail.
“There is perhaps no more concrete illustration of the self-destructiveness of Trump’s ‘patriotism’ than in his approach to energy and climate change,” wrote Cannavo, who directs the College’s environmental studies program. “There is absolutely no recognition that our national interest - including national security - might be better served by restraint in exploiting fossil fuels, by protecting the landscape that has defined American identity, and by cooperating with other nations on mutual sacrifices to prevent calamitous climate change.”
In closing, Cannavo observed, “There is absolutely no recognition that our national interest - including national security - might be better served by restraint in exploiting fossil fuels, by protecting the landscape that has defined American identity, and by cooperating with other nations on mutual sacrifices to prevent calamitous climate change.”
