U.S. LASHES OUT AT CRITICS

Officials go on the offensive to justify Trump’s decision

WASHINGTON

THE White House hit back on Friday at criticism of Donald Trump’s decision to scrap a major global climate deal, accusing Europe of trying to “shackle” the United States economy and refusing to acknowledge climate change is real.

With the US virtually isolated on the world stage, a string of administration officials went on the offensive on Friday to justify the Republican president’s decision to abandon the 195-nation Paris deal curbing global emissions.

Trump’s top climate adviser Scott Pruitt was indignant: “The world applauded when we joined Paris. And you know why? I think they applauded because they knew it would put this country at a disadvantage.

“The European leaders, why do they want us to stay in? They know it will continue to shackle our economy,” said Pruitt, who serves as Trump’s Environment Protection Agency administrator.

That combative tone came amid a wave of bitter condemnation from around the world and as Trump and his aides refused to say whether he believed climate change was real, in line with the global scientific consensus.

Trump ignored the question when asked by journalists during an unrelated event with law enforcement officers, although he did joke that Thursday’s decision had proven “controversial”.

Along with Trump, Pruitt and White House press secretary Sean Spicer were among those who refused to answer repeated questions on the subject.

Instead, Pruitt lashed out, saying “we have nothing to be apologetic about as a country”, despite the US being the world’s second largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China.

“We have taken significant steps to reduce our CO2 footprint,” he said. Demonstrators protesting President Donald Trump’s decision to exit the Paris climate change accord in Chicago, Illinois, on Friday.

That message would likely play well with Trump’s Republican base, which revelled in defeating what Pruitt called the “environmental left” and “climate exaggerators”.

Expressions of shock and regret poured in from around the world, including from Pacific islands at risk of being swallowed by rising seas, which accused Washington of “abandoning” them.

As well as world outcry, Trump’s decision prompted a domestic backlash, with state governors, city mayors and powerful companies already drawing up plans to meet the Paris pact’s greenhouse gas emission targets.

At least two Republican governors announced on Friday they were partnering with Democratic-run states to combat climate change.

US billionaire, philanthropist and United Nations envoy for climate change Michael Bloomberg

pledged US$15 million (RM64 million) to support the Paris agreement’s coordinating agency if necessary — the sum it stood to lose should the US refuse to pay its share.

“Americans will honour and fulfil the Paris agreement by leading from the bottom up,” he said, flying to the French capital to meet President Emmanuel Macron in an expression of solidarity.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the European Union’s most powerful leader, pledged “more decisive action than ever” to protect the climate after Trump’s “highly regrettable” decision.

In Brussels, European Council president Donald Tusk said the EU was “stepping up” cooperation on climate change with Beijing following a summit with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, while India said it was committed to the Paris accord “irrespective” of the position of other nations. AFP