I urge President Trump to maintain American participation in the

Hear the words of Brad Schneider, who spoke in the days of uncertainty, when the fate of nations hung between responsibility and retreat: “I urge President Trump to maintain American participation in the Paris Agreement—for the sake of our international leadership, economic competitiveness, and children’s environmental future.” This is not the plea of a single man alone, but the cry of one generation to another, warning that choices made today will echo across centuries.

The origin of this saying lies in the great covenant of 2015, when nearly every nation on earth signed the Paris Agreement, pledging to confront the threat of climate change. For the first time in history, humanity set aside its divisions to acknowledge a shared peril and commit to a shared response. Yet when the United States, the most powerful of nations, threatened to withdraw under President Trump, leaders like Schneider raised their voices. He argued that leaving was not merely a matter of policy, but of honor, prosperity, and the inheritance of children yet unborn.

Schneider’s first plea was for international leadership. For in ages past, the greatness of a nation has not been measured only by armies or treasure, but by its willingness to lead in the common good. When America helped rebuild Europe after the Second World War through the Marshall Plan, it secured not only allies but a legacy of moral leadership. To abandon the Paris Agreement, Schneider warned, would be to forsake this mantle, leaving a vacuum to be filled by others less committed to the cause of the earth.

His second plea was for economic competitiveness. Too often, men imagine that protecting the environment must come at the expense of prosperity. But history teaches the opposite: innovation is born of necessity. When nations embraced clean energy, new industries flourished—wind farms, solar panels, electric vehicles, and countless technologies yet unimagined. To withdraw was to risk ceding these opportunities to other nations, to fall behind in the race that would define the twenty-first century. Schneider’s words remind us that the economy of tomorrow belongs to those who invest in it today.

His third and most poignant plea was for children’s environmental future. Here lies the deepest truth: that climate change is not a storm for the present alone, but a gathering tempest that will test generations yet unborn. To delay action is to hand our children a poisoned chalice of rising seas, burning forests, and fields turned barren. History bears witness to this as well. The Dust Bowl of the 1930s, born of reckless farming and drought, scarred a generation and forced families to flee their homes. If one decade of mismanagement could bring such suffering, how much more shall centuries of neglect bring upon our descendants?

The meaning of Schneider’s teaching is that treaties are more than signatures on parchment—they are covenants between generations. To break them for short-term gain is to betray both allies and children. The Paris Agreement was not perfect, but it was a beginning, a recognition that the survival of the earth requires unity of will. To remain within it was to say, “We are part of the human family, and we accept our share of the burden.”

And what shall we, ordinary people, do with such wisdom? We cannot all sit at the tables of power, but we can hold leaders accountable, demand that they honor international commitments, and live in ways that lighten the burden on the earth. We can teach our children to see themselves not as rulers of nature, but as stewards of it. And we can support innovation, policies, and communities that pursue both prosperity and sustainability together.

So remember the teaching of Brad Schneider: to remain in the Paris Agreement was not merely to defend America’s interests, but to safeguard humanity’s future. To honor leadership, to pursue competitiveness, and to protect children’s futures—these are not separate duties, but one. Let us walk forward with this wisdom, that those who come after us may say: our ancestors did not abandon their duty, but chose the path of responsibility and hope.