Donald Trump is more committed than anyone to cleaning up the environment — at least the one Barack Obama left behind. Mopping up an eight-year mess is no easy task, but the new president kept at it Thursday, pulling America out of a dollar-sucking, job-crushing climate treaty that wouldn’t have made a degree’s worth of difference in the earth’s temperature!

What it would have done is put 2.7 million people out of work by 2025, costing the U.S. some $3 trillion in “lost economic output.” And for what? A manufactured “crisis” that crumbles under the weight of real-world evidence. Even the co-founder of Greenpeace admits there’s “no scientific proof” that humans are causing global warming. Dr. Sterling Burnett is just one of the scientists who obliterates the liberals’ claims. (Dr. Cal Beisner is another, who tackled the topic on Thursday’s “Washington Watch.”) “There is no question humans have changed the climate on a regional scale — and not always for the better… However, the evidence suggests human greenhouse-gas emissions are having a limited impact on global climate, with virtually all the alarmists’ model predictions routinely failing to match reality.” (More proof here. If you thought the holes in the ozone layer were big, you should see the ones in the Left’s credibility!)

With liberal theories on thinner ice than most polar bears, President Trump did the responsible thing: He pulled America out of the Paris Climate Change Treaty. “This agreement is less about the climate and more about other countries gaining a financial advantage over the United States," he explained from the White House Rose Garden. He also announced the end to the carbon reduction targets set under Obama, "which aimed to reduce emissions by 26-28 percent in a decade,” while also putting a stop to America’s exorbitant contributions to the United Nations’ Green Climate Fund, which he says is “costing the United States a fortune.” “As someone who cares deeply about our environment, I cannot in good conscience support a deal which punishes the United States,” he told reporters. “The Paris accord is very unfair at the highest level to the United States.”

He went on to prove it, explaining how India and China were allowed to build more coal plants under the deal, while America would be forced to shut down its clean coal industry. “The agreement doesn’t eliminate coal jobs,” Trump pointed out. “It just transfers those jobs out of the United States, and ships them to foreign countries.” Walking out of the 195-nation pact was a bold move, adding to the president’s already impressive collection of fulfilled promises. Obviously, five months in Washington hasn’t done anything to change Donald Trump’s resolve. “I was elected by the citizens of Pittsburgh,” Trump declared, “not Paris.” And like us, he knows exactly where the global warming debate ranks in the list of American priorities: the bottom.

This White House is determined to change the direction of the country, and it doesn’t matter how strong the opposition or how critical the media. This president has the backbone to get things done. And that’s exactly what liberals are afraid of. They’ve ramped up their attacks, disrupted townhalls, even camped out at government employees’ houses to intimidate them. (Listen to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai’s unreal story here.) The extreme Left will stop at nothing to keep this president — elected by the people — from undoing the policies of the Obama administration. It doesn’t want change, even though voters demanded it.

As conservatives, we need to show the same resolve. If we want the president to be successful, we have to match the Left’s determination with our own. Donald Trump is showing everyone that he has the backbone to put America first. Let’s join him in tackling problems we can actually solve — like family breakdown, health care, and religious hostility — instead of being distracted by issues that there’s not a chance on earth we can solve.

Originally published here.

Pro-Lifers Ask for Sessions on Planned Parenthood

Defending Planned Parenthood has always been a tough job — but last month, it got even harder with the release of some of the worst undercover videos to date. Just when you thought the group couldn’t be any crasser, David Daleiden caught employees laughing about some of the collateral damage of abortion — like eyeballs rolling into staffers’ laps — and other horrifying tales.

But the stories were more than stomach-turning — they were also incriminating. At one point, Planned Parenthood Dr. Ann Schutt-Aine talked about how the group evades the partial-birth abortion law by “pull[ing] off a leg or two, so it’s not PBA.” It’s that obvious disdain for the law that’s gotten Cecile Richards’s group into trouble before. After a series of videos showed the higher-ups at Planned Parenthood were hiding a massive baby organ-selling ring, Republicans finally had enough. Led by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the House launched a special panel to investigate the organization propped up by more than a half-billion taxpayer dollars. Despite the Left’s refusal to cooperate, Blackburn and company uncovered plenty of abuses of fetal tissue and born-alive infant protection laws.

Unfortunately, under the most pro-abortion president in American history, Congress didn’t have the support of the White House to move those allegations forward. Now, armed with more evidence — and friends in the White House and Congress — conservative groups are asking Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe to pick up where the Obama administration never left off. “We, the undersigned representing millions of Americans, strongly support an investigation into paid fetal tissue transfers involving Planned Parenthood.”

Signed by a dozen pro-life organizations (including FRC), movement leaders point out, “The Select Investigative Panel made 15 criminal and regulatory referrals of tissue companies and abortion clinics, including Planned Parenthood affiliates… The facts uncovered raise a reasonable suspicion that these organizations, and/or individuals employed by them, may have engaged in a conspiracy to violate the fetal tissue law… The previous administration decided to turn a blind eye to the wrongdoing, which led to the creation of the Select Panel. We request that the Justice Department continue the investigation into the practices surrounding this scandal.”

Of course, the first step in stopping this apparent illegal behavior is to stop funding it! Congress should pull the plug on the $554 million the nation’s largest abortion provider rakes in from taxpayers every year. The GOP’s health care push is designed to do exactly that, zeroing in on the biggest slice of Planned Parenthood’s pie: more than 80 percent of its Medicaid funding. Based on the report Cecile Richards released last week, her group hardly needs the money. Record abortions led to record profits for the organization ($77 million), whose clinics only seem to give birth to one thing: scandal. It’s time to hold the group’s feet to the fire. And Attorney General Sessions is just the man for the job.

Originally published here.

Praying My Respects at the La. Senate

I stepped back into some old but familiar surroundings Thursday as I had the privilege of being asked to open the Louisiana State Senate in prayer. Of course it is always an honor to pray, but it was a special honor to be able to pray for a number of my former colleagues from the House who were later elected to the state Senate.

As are most state leaders around the nation, Louisiana leaders are grappling with demands that outpace and even exceed the state’s ability. My prayer for them, as it would be for all our elected leaders, most of whom make great sacrifices to serve, was to first thank God for such men and women and to ask that they be equipped to meet the challenges that are before them. I prayed that they would have the wisdom of Solomon, the compassion of the Samaritan, the courage of Joshua, the faith of the centurion, the patience of Moses, the determination of the Apostle Paul, the devotion of Ruth, the boldness of Peter and John, the heart of David, and the joy of Jesus.

It’s been encouraging to see the transformation that has taken place in Louisiana state politics over the last two decades as a number of Christian leaders, both inside and outside of government have left their imprint, a reflection of Christ on Louisiana. Thursday was just a reminder of what Paul told the Galatians; that we must not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Originally published here.

This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.