Some Irreverent Independent Thoughts on Independence Day 2018

The United States was on the “bleeding edge” of the end of colonialism in 1776. The US is the most successful of the ex-colonies, but has not attempted to use that success to become a colonial power. The US voluntarily participated in several wars in opposition to foreign nations seeking to take control of other nations by force. The US also played a major role in the breakup of the Soviet Union, which had “colonialized” Eastern Europe and had aspirations of “colonializing” the rest of the world. The citizens of the US have paid a heavy price to secure their own freedom and to assist the citizens of other nations to gain and secure their freedom.

Colonialism has begun to rear its ugly head again, though it now calls itself globalism and seeks global governance. The driving force for globalization and global governance is the United Nations, which was founded to assist nations in resolving conflicts peacefully. However, the UN has aggressively pursued “mission creep” and, at times, “mission leap”, as is common for unelected bureaucracies seeking greater influence and power.

The current “cause celebre” for the UN is climate change. Its primary vehicle in pursuit of this cause is the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Its primary tool is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which studies the science regarding anthropogenic influences on global climate and prepares a periodic Assessment Report and accompanying Summary for Policymakers. Their efforts have led to development and promulgation of a political / scientific “consensus” that emissions of CO2, CH4 and other ”greenhouse gases” are the sole, or at least the principal, cause of recent global warming; that this anthropogenic warming and other potential climate changes caused or aggravated by the warming would inevitably lead to a global climate catastrophe if not abated; and, that urgent actions must be taken to reduce the emissions of these gases to avert the potential catastrophe.

The UN membership has developed a series of accords intended to unite the member nations in this effort, beginning with the Rio Accords, followed by the Kyoto Accords and most recently by the Paris Accords. The UN Secretariat and the UNFCCC have sought to cast these accords as binding treaties, but US administrations have chosen not to submit these accords to the US Senate for ratification, because they were certain that the Senate would not ratify them. The UN Secretariat and the UNFCCC remain convinced that the most recent Paris Accords must become binding on all parties, not only regarding commitments to reduce emissions, but also regarding technology transfers and funding commitments by the developed nations.

The UN Green Climate Fund was originally to begin transferring $100 billion per year from the developed nations to the developing and the not-yet-developing nations by 2020, of which approximately 25% was to be provided by the US. The UNFCCC envisions that commitment growing to $425 billion per year, again with the US providing approximately 25%. The UN Secretariat envisions that administration of compliance with the emissions reductions commitments of the parties and of the collection and distribution of the Green Climate Fund would require a level of global governance by the UN Secretariat. This global governance would obviously require surrender of a degree of national independence on the part of the participating nations, particularly those transferring technology and providing funding.

While the previous US administration appeared more than willing to surrender this degree of sovereignty to the UN, the current US administration appears totally unwilling to do so. US withdrawal from the Paris Accords and defunding of the UNFCCC and the Green Climate Fund is a symbolic declaration of the US intention to remain a sovereign nation. It is also a refusal to participate in the surrender of sovereignty by other nations to the UN bureaucracy. Regrettably, the Administration has not yet terminated its participation in the UNFCCC, as required by current US law as the result of the UNFCCC recognition of the Palestinian Authority as a “state level” participant. This step is essential to communicate to the UN that the US will function as a sovereign state and will participate in UN activities only to the extent that they are incompliance with US law.

US sovereignty and freedom were too hard won to be squandered on globalism.