Trump delays decision on climate accord
Businesses urge him to stay in deal
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump is delaying a decision on whether to withdraw from a landmark climate deal until after an international summit this month.
That means the president will head to the G7 summit in Italy at the end of May amid continued global uncertainty over whether the United States will remain in the emissions-cutting deal struck in Paris under the Obama administration.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday that Trump wants to “continue to meet with his team,” seeking advice from both an economic and an environmental perspective as he works to make a decision.
A meeting for top advisers to discuss the deal was set for Tuesday afternoon but was postponed.
Trump pledged during the presidential campaign to renegotiate the accord, but he has wavered on the issue since winning the presidency. His top officials have appeared divided about what to do about the deal, under which the U.S. pledged to significantly reduce planetwarming carbon emissions in the coming decade.
Leading up to the expected Tuesday meeting, a number of high-profile businesses spoke out in favor of remaining in the deal. A group including Apple, Google and Wal-Mart signed a letter sent to Trump last week. A larger coalition signed on to ads run in the Washington editions of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal this week.
On Instagram Tuesday, renowned jeweler Tiffany and Company wrote a message to the president, saying “we’re still in for bold climate action. Please keep the U.S. in the Paris Climate Agreement.”
Ted Halstead, president of the Climate Leadership Council, said “there is a nearly unanimous position on the part of big business.”
“American business leaders understand that remaining in the agreement would spur new investment, strengthen American competitiveness, create jobs, ensure American access to global markets and help reduce future business risks associated with the changing climate,” said an opinion piece in the New York Times Tuesday by Halstead and George P. Shultz, who served as secretary of state under President Ronald Reagan.
Opponents of the deal have also lobbied the president this week, with a group of conservative organizations signing a letter saying “the treaty is not in the interest of the American people and the U. S. should therefore not be a party to it.” Signatures on the letter include veteran anti-tax activist Grover Norquist and Myron Ebell, who led transition efforts at EPA prior to the president’s swearing in.
The Paris accord, signed by nearly 200 nations in 2015, was never ratified by the Senate due to the staunch oppositions of Republicans. It therefore does not have the force of a binding treaty, and the U.S. could potentially withdraw from the deal without legal penalty.