Trump betrays the planet

This editorial appeared on The Washington Post:

On Monday, the journal Nature Climate Change published a study finding that global warming’s effects on major world cities could be far more devastating than previously understood. Some cities, it found, could be a staggering 14.4 degrees warmer on average by the end of the century, causing a 10.9 per cent decline in gross domestic product as people work less, air and water quality decline, and more energy is needed to cool buildings.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump took a major step toward making this dystopia a reality.

In announcing that he will pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, Trump dealt a blow to the effort to slow climate change — but not only that. By joining Syria and Nicaragua as the only nonparticipants in the most consequential diplomatic effort of this century, he also dealt a blow to the U.S. leadership that has helped promote peace and prosperity for the past seven decades under Republican and Democratic presidents alike. Under their leadership, the United States acted with selflessness and enlightened self-interest.

The agreement was the world’s best hope to ensure that big developing nations such as China and India did their share, addressing GOP concerns that these countries would refuse to sacrifice along with the United States. It did not lock in exactly how the United States and other nations would help. Rather, it created an international expectation of voluntary commitments from every nation, enforced by diplomatic pressure. All of Trump’s arguments for withdrawing, in other words, are unfounded. He could have adjusted, even minimized, the U.S. commitment without trashing the framework.

The president said Thursday that the United States might rejoin the Paris agreement after a period of renegotiation. But given the extent to which other nations already accommodated American demands, the prospect of a radically different treaty is fanciful. So what tangible benefit does this irrational decision bring to Americans? None. None at all.