When President Donald Trump announced that he would withdraw the United States from the United Nations’ Paris Agreement, which went into effect in 2016, I had mixed emotions as to whether I agreed with his decision or not.

On one hand, I was concerned about the effectiveness such an agreement would have.

However, I still felt the U.S. should be a leader in helping to combat the effects of carbon emissions. If American leadership is not present in world affairs, other nations such as Russia, China, the United Kingdom and Germany can assert dominance.

The non-binding agreement doesn’t have a set guide of when or how countries should achieve their goals of emissions control.

While there is concern over America’s exit from the pact, the earliest date we could exit wouldn’t be until 2020. That is also the year during which countries are to provide feedback on how they will work toward reducing emissions.

I believe the U.S. should do whatever it can to prevent the effects of global warming. There is too much evidence to show we need to be aware of how we treat the environment.

If America doesn’t work closely with other nations, then we will become a pariah on the global stage. Working together is the only way to fully achieve the goal of lowering carbon emissions.

There is so much at stake when it comes to the environment. We must accept, as humans, that we are hurting our fragile ecosystem.

Usually I’m not the one to say ‘We need to save the polar bears,’ but, after doing my own research on the subject, I believe we must act soon to preserve our environment.

As Americans, we take so much for granted. We are so used to having everything given to us.

Many may call me a liberal partisan for taking this stance, but I don’t look at this as a political issue; it’s a human issue. We can’t be worried about which side of politics we fall under just because we care about a certain issue.

Instead of bickering over something so trivial as politics, we should focus on what we need to do to make our world better for generations to come.

Our country must come together and work on whatever we can to halt emissions.