Few favor move to ditch climate accord

WASHINGTON - Less than onethird of Americans support President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, a new poll shows, and just 18% of respondents agree with his claim that pulling out of the international agreement to reduce carbon emissions will help the U.S. economy.

The survey conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research earlier this month found that a slim majority — 52% — worry that withdrawing will actually hurt the economy. Twenty-seven percent think it won’t have an impact either way.

But digging deeper into the numbers shows a sharp partisan divide on global warming, with Republicans more likely to align themselves with the president’s views.

Seventy-eight percent of Democrats think withdrawing from the Paris agreement will hurt the national economy. Among Republicans, just 24% think it will hurt, 40% think it will have no impact and 34% think it will help.

Donald Nolan is a New Jersey businessman who has spent years living and traveling overseas. He worries that Trump is undermining U.S. credibility abroad. An independent voter, Nolan said he strongly opposes pulling out of the Paris accord.

“Where I live, we’re 36 feet above sea level. If the polar ice caps melt, there won’t be any dry land here,” said Nolan, 60. “If you are pulling out of something that pretty much every other country in the world is a part of, then that is not seen as being a leader. When I lived overseas, America was always looked at as being first. But I see our position to be deteriorating.”

Overall, 44% of Americans are very concerned and 26% are moderately concerned that withdrawing from the agreement will hurt the country’s standing in the world, with that concern also dividing along party lines.

By a 46% to 29 % margin, more oppose than favor the U.S. withdrawing from the agreement. Democrats are far more likely to oppose than support withdrawing from the agreement, 69% to 16%. Republicans are more likely to support Trump’s withdrawal, 51% to 20%.

Independents are mixed in their views. Twenty-five percent support the withdrawal, 36% are opposed and 37% don’t feel strongly one way or the other.