Trump Withdraws U.S. From Paris Climate Accord; Reaction is Intense

For the time being, let's briefly address the facts and reactions to the United States being pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord.  We will follow up soon with another post discussing what this means for the U.S. and for the 195 nations who signed the agreement.

It was announced on Thursday that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord, weakening efforts to combat climate change.  This was met with immediate widespread condemnation from political leaders, business executives and environmentalists around the world.  Under the accord, the United States had pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025 and commit up to $3 billion in aid for poorer countries by 2020.  Only two countries did not sign the agreement - Syria, a failing nation, and Nicaragua, who admirably felt the accord was not strong enough.

Trump’s decision to abandon the agreement for environmental action signed by 195 nations is a remarkable rebuke to heads of state, climate activists, corporate executives and members of the president’s own staff, who all failed to change his mind with an intense, last-minute lobbying blitz. The Paris agreement was intended to bind the world community into battling rising temperatures in concert, and the departure of the Earth’s second-largest polluter is a major blow.

The response was immediate and from a wide-ranging set of individuals and corporations. 

Within minutes of the president’s remarks, the leaders of France, Germany and Italy issued a joint statement saying that the Paris climate accord was “irreversible” and could not be renegotiated.... business leaders like Elon Musk of Tesla, Jeffrey R. Immelt of General Electric and Lloyd C. Blankfein of Goldman Sachs said the decision would ultimately harm the economy by ceding the jobs of the future in clean energy and technology to overseas competitors.

President Emmanuel Macron of France and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada each issued rebukes to Mr. Trump. “Make our planet great again,” Mr. Macron said.  On Twitter, Miguel Arias Cañete, the European Union’s commissioner for climate, said that “today’s announcement has galvanized us rather than weakened us, and this vacuum will be filled by new broad committed leadership.”

Mr. Obama, in a rare assertion of his political views as a former president, said, “The nations that remain in the Paris agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created.  Removing the United States from the Paris agreement is a reckless and indefensible action,” said Al Gore, the former vice president who has become an evangelist for fighting climate change. “It undermines America’s standing in the world and threatens to damage humanity’s ability to solve the climate crisis in time.”

Corporate leaders also condemned Mr. Trump’s action. On its website, I.B.M. reaffirmed its support for the Paris agreement and took issue with the president’s contention that it was a bad deal for American workers and the American economy.  Mr. Immelt, the chairman and chief executive of General Electric, took to Twitter to say he was “disappointed” with the decision. “Climate change is real,” he said. “Industry must now lead and not depend on government.”

Because the specificed withdrawal process laid out in the Paris agreement could take nearly four years to complete, a final decision is essentially  up to the American voters in the next presidential election.  More to follow soon on the impacts.

ACTION: Organizations such as the Natural Resources Defense Coucil, 350.org, the Sierra Club will be fighting hard against this administration.  Read up on their work at their web sites, follow them on Twitter, and give a donation to them or similar groups.  We need environmental groups to be well funded to fight this fight.  Their web sites have concrete ways you can get involved beyond giving them money if this fighting for this cause drives you.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/climate/trump-paris-climate-agreement.html