On Thursday, President Donald Trump pulled the United States of America out of the Paris Agreement, a non-binding document which outlines target goals for each country to deal with global warming. Trump angered a majority of Americans and people around the world with the decision. One of those humans frustrated also appears to be Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews.
Toews wrote a very thoughtful (and careful to not offend) post on Instagram encouraging his followers to consider that “the only lie we tell ourselves is that [humans] are more special than other life forms on the planet.”
Toews writes:
Do you believe in climate change? Whether you’re super pumped that we are putting ‘Americans first’ or you are absolutely outraged at the idea that we are taking yet another step backwards in dealing with a major global problem, the only way to solve this argument is to try and set your own agenda aside and see how this affects everybody. The only lie we tell ourselves is that we are more special than other life forms on the planet. Well, we’re not. Even if we weren’t responsible for any major climate catastrophes heading our way, shouldn’t we still do our part to preserve what we have left? The same way that we shouldn’t wait till our bodies break down completely to start doing the right things to stay healthy, let’s not wait till it’s too late to do something. I am not saying I am perfectly ‘green’, but the first step is to keep an open mind and try to learn what you don’t already know.
Four hours after posting, Toews has already received 20,595 likes on Instagram and over 7,500 interactions on Twitter. The real victory however is that the forward is getting people to have dialogue about a major issue facing our planet.
Do you believe in climate change? Whether you're super pumped that we are putting 'Americans… https://t.co/U4ix4jSkHl
— Jonathan Toews (@JonathanToews) June 2, 2017
Retired hockey player Andrew Ference showed support to Toews.
Well said! It's not political, it's moving forward vs going backwards. You're a positive influence to many 👍🏽 Make Earth Great Again
— Andrew Ference (@Ferknuckle) June 3, 2017
There were also many detractors.
Stick to hockey
— Mike Dodor (@Thedodes) June 2, 2017
But no, Jonathan, please don’t stick to hockey, especially when you’re being this thoughtful.
Headline photo: @jonathantoews
