Trump Removes United States from Paris Agreement

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Summary: Despite objections from allies and some members of the Trump administration, the president removed the U.S. from the global pact.

President Donald Trump made the announcement today that the United States would no longer be part of the Paris Agreement. The announcement fulfills another campaign promise to dismiss global warming measures.

  

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Trump noted in this announcement from the White House that he would be open to renegotiating parts of the agreement which he feels are unfair to the country. The United States entered into the agreement under President Barack Obama with all but two nations also signing into it.

Trump asked, “At what point does America get demeaned? At what point do they start laughing at us as a country?” He felt the pact was against American workers and gave foreign countries an advantage. He continued, “We want fair treatment. We don’t want other countries and other leaders to laugh at us anymore.”

Not all of Trump’s administration were wanting him to drop out of the pact. Trump’s own daughter Ivanka urged him to reconsider and find a way to make the deal work without fully backing out. Trump adamantly argued that he “was elected by the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.” He promised the voters during his campaign that he would keep an “American First” policy that would include leaving an agreement that ultimately punished Americans.

Trump’s decision to leave the Paris Agreement will not happen overnight. The process of withdrawing with not conclude until November 2020, the same time that elections for the presidency will happen again. No doubt, the pact will be a hot topic in the next election campaigns.

The part of the agreement that Trump had the greatest issue with was the U.S. carbon reduction commitment. He referred to it as a “draconian” financial burden on the people of America. He said, “We’re getting out and we will start to renegotiate and we’ll see if there’s a better deal. If we can, great. If we can’t, that’s fine.” Specifically, Trump is referring to the part of the deal that sets a target carbon emissions reduction of 26-28 percent within ten years.

However, French, Italian, and German leaders indicated in a joint statement that the U.S. can’t call for a renegotiation of the agreement. The United Nation body that brokered the deal said it “cannot be renegotiated based on the request of a single party.”

Trump also declared that the country would no longer contribute to the United Nations’ Green Climate Fund because it was “costing the United States a fortune.” Trump continued, “As someone who cares deeply about our environment, I cannot in good conscience support a deal which punishes the United States. The Paris accord is very unfair at the highest level to the United States. This agreement is less about the climate and more about other countries gaining a financial advantage over the United States.”

On Ivanka’s side were Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and chief economist, Gary Cohn. Those pushing to quit the Paris agreement included chief strategist Steve Bannon and EPA administrator Scott Pruitt.

The departure of the United States from the Paris pact does not seem to have an impact on any other countries. China, the world’s largest carbon emitter, reaffirmed their commitment to the pact even though the U.S. left.

Do you think global warming is something to be worried about? Tell us in the comments below.

To learn more about global warming, read these articles:

• Supreme Court Blocks Obama’s Global Warming Plans
• Global Cooling: Arctic Ice Cap Grew by 60% in One Year
• Lynch Turning against “Climate Change Deniers”

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org