Trump blames climate accord for US ailing coal industry

Announcing that the US will withdraw from the Paris climate accord, Donald Trump misplaced the blame for what ails the American coal industry and laid a shaky factual foundation for his move. WHITE HOUSE: The Paris agreement “would effectively decapitate our coal industry, which now supplies about onethird of our electric power”. THE FACTS: The US coal industry was in decline long before the Paris accord was signed in 2015. The primary cause has been competition from cleaner-burning natural gas, which has been made cheaper and more abundant by hydraulic fracturing. Electric utilities have been replacing coal plants with gas-fired facilities because they are more efficient and cheaper to operate. TRUMP: No other country “is even close” to the 1 billion dollars (£770 million) the US has paid so far into the UNmanaged Green Climate Fund. THE FACTS: Other governments with smaller economies have invested significant amounts. The fund has $694 million (£539 million) from Japan, 515 million dollars (£400 million) from Britain, 460 million dollars (£357 million) from Sweden and 420 million dollars (£326 million) from Germany, in addition to contributions from dozens of other countries. Per capita, some countries are promising much more than the US. TRUMP: “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.” THE FACTS: That may be so, but Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, is not Trump country. It voted overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton in November, favouring her by a margin of 56% to Mr Trump’s 40%. The city has a climate action plan committing to boost the use of renewable energy.

Natural gas rivals coal burning.