More Republicans see upside to sticking with Paris accord
WASHINGTON — Supporters of President Donald Trump worried that he has lost his appetite for poking the establishment would likely be reassured if he were to make good on his promise to swiftly kick to the curb the Paris agreement on climate change.
But the promise to snub the Paris pact is fast becoming a political albatross for the president.
As Trump meets with top advisers Thursday to weigh what purpose a U.S. withdrawal fromthe agreement would serve, he is under intensifying pressure from his own allies to keep it intact. The White House is getting an unexpected earful on the matter from a broad spectrum of voices on the right, including some key skeptics of globalwarming science.
Republicans are increasingly adopting the point of view that there isn’t much upside to walking away from the Paris accord beyond the burst of satisfaction it would give core Trump voters.
Lawmakers who were once among the most vocal opponents of the agreement are reconsidering, as they grow concerned about the prospect of the United States removing itself from one of the most influential forums for steering global energy policy — and one that doesn’t place particularly onerous obligations on the nation.
“Co-opt it, don’t crush it” is fast becoming a mantra among a broadening circle of advisers to the administration, much to the horror of the free market absolutists and anti-globalism activists who took the accord for as good as dead the day Trump was elected. The president plans to announce by the end of May what direction the administration will go.
“If the president asked me today whether we should stay in or get out, I am not sure what I would tell him,” said Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., an energy adviser to Trump during the campaign who had urged him to reject Paris unequivocally and as recently as October declared the accord a grave economic threat to America. “The more I speak to people, the more convinced I am that there is a lot of upside to staying in.”
All this is cold comfort to the many thousands of global warming activists who will be marching for climate action in Washington and elsewhere Saturday. The shifting view in the GOP on the Paris accord is a sign that many in the oil, gas, coal and nuclear sectors are seeing more opportunity to preserve market share by staying in Paris than by bolting.
“We want to make sure we have a leg up and opportunity for American energy and technologies to compete in the world market and not get boxed out by others,” said Jeffrey Merrifield, a former commissioner at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission who now represents nuclear energy companies as an attorney.
The pact sets goals for reducing emissions, but it leaves lots of flexibility for how nations go about it.
Not all conservatives are warming to it. Several activists from the network of nonprofits bankrolled by fossil fuel tycoons Charles and David Koch are urging Trump not to waver on his pledge to retreat.
“Itwas a promise,” Chris Horner of the Energy and Environment Legal Institute said of Trump’s vow to withdraw from Paris. “Should the president keep his promise? We argue he should.”
The debate will rage on Thursday in the White House, where Trump’s Cabinet is also conflicted about what direction to take. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is loath to sacrifice the seat at the table the United States has by continuing to honor the agreement. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt calls Paris a bad deal that America should walk away from.
Trump strategist Steve Bannon is expected to argue vociferously against remaining in the agreement, but the former Breitbart executive’s influence has waned. Still, Bannon’s point of view is strong among Trump’s base.
“As long as this Frankenstein monster is out there,” Marlo Lewis, fellow at the Koch-backed Competitive Enterprise Institute, said of the Paris accord, “it can revert right back to where Obama left it.”