Trump pulls US out of emissions agreement
● Scientists warn global warming will speed up as a result of US move
President Donald Trump has withdrawn the US from the 2015 Paris climate change agreement.
In a speech at the White House, Mr Trump said moves to negotiate a new deal that would not disadvantage the US would begin.
“As of today, the United States will cease all implementation of the non- binding Paris accord,” he said.
Under former president Barack Oba ma, theUS had agreed to reduce emissions to 26 per cent to 28 per cent of 2005 levels by 2025.
But Mr Trump said the agree - ment disadvantaged the US “to the exclusive benefit of other countries ”, leaving Am erican businesses and taxpayers to absorb the cost.
President Donald Trump said last night he was withdrawing the US from the Paris climate agreement.
The announcement strikes a major blow to worldwide efforts to combat climate change and distances the country from many global allies.
“As of today, the United States will cease all implementation of the nonbinding Paris accord,” Mr Trump said during a White House Rose Garden announcement.
He said the US would try to negotiate re-entry on better terms.
But, suggesting renegotiating re-entry was not a major priority, he added: “If we can, great. If we can’t, that’s fine.”
By abandoning the world’s chief effortto slow the tide of planetary warming, Mr Trump wasfulfilling a key campaign pledge. But he was also breaking from many of America’s staunches allies, who have expressedalarm about the decision.
Under former president, Ba rack Oba ma, the US had agreed to reduce emissions to between 26 per cent and 28 per cent of 2005 levels by 2025 – about 1.6 billion tons.
But Mr Trump said the agreement disadvantaged the US “to the exclusive benefit of other countries”, leaving American businesses and taxpayers to absorb the cost.
The president said :“I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.”
Scientists say the world is likely to reach more dangerous levels of warming sooner as a result of the president’s decision because America contributes so much to rising temperatures.
Calculations suggest withdrawal could result in emissions of up to 3 billion tons of additional carb ondi ox- ide in the air a year – enough to melt ice sheets faster, raise seas higher and trigger more extreme weather.
The US is the world’ s secondlargest emitter of carbon, following only China. Beijing, however, has reaffirmed its commitment to meeting its targets under the Paris accord, recently cancelling construction of about 100 coal-fired power plants and investing billions in massive wind and solar projects.
The White House had signal led earlier in the week that withdrawal was likely, but Mr Trump has been known to change his mind at the last minute on major decisions.
White House aid es were divided on the topic and had been deliberating on“caveats in the language” as late as Wednesday, one official said.
Meanwhile, Chinese and EU leaders are set to agree a joint statement backing the Paris agreement, saying it is “an imperative more important than ever”.
From the moment Donald Trump was elected president, we knew there would be days like these, when hope would be overwhelmed by despair.
The decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change is a serious blow to the international community’s attempts to counter global warming, regardless of the determination of the rest to press on. The loss of a superpower represents more than just whatever this will mean for emissions and temperature targets. The movement has lost a leader to influence the world’s more reluctant nations and encourage them to aim for targets that they would not entertain voluntarily. By opting out, the US sends the message that it is acceptable to ignore the Paris Agreement.
It is galling to recall that the US signed the Paris Agreement just 13 months ago, a momentous occasion which has been undone through one man’s selfish belief that the US economy – and the pursuit of maximum commercial gain, apparently at any cost – is more important than the future of the planet. The Agree - ment, which is signed by 190 countries, is “bad for America”.
It is also difficult to get away from the conclusion that not only is Trump doing this to “put America first”, he’s doing it because he can. He’s doing it because the Paris Agreement was signed by the Obama regime, and therefore is wrong and must be dismantled.
The justification is pitiful. Trump and his supporters complain that it is wrong to put the US economy at a disadvantage if China is not making the same commitment. This, of course, is ridiculous. If China should be doing more to counter climate change, the US walking away from the agreement is the least likely way of achieving progress. As well as selfish, it is irresponsible.
We knew long ago that Trump is not a deep thinker, and his impulsive approach to world affairs has hardly been tempered since assuming office. It’s at the same intellectually challenged level as Senator James Inhofe taking a snowball on to the Senate floor to prove that glo - bal warming doesn’t exist.
Sadly, there will be more unpalatable developments to come from the Trump administration. Can any global initiative succeed without the involvement of the United States? Possibly. But on climate change, what was already a daunting task has just become even harder, and the world, almost overnight, is a poorer place.