Trump may pull out of climate accord
Print Edition
PRESIDENT Donald Trump is expected to pull the United States from a landmark global climate agreement, a White House official said yesterday, though there could be “caveats in the language” announcing a withdrawal, leaving open the possibility that his decision isn’t final.
Exiting the deal would be certain to anger allies that spent years negotiating the accord to reduce carbon emissions.
Yesterday morning Trump tweeted: “I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Nearly 200 nations, including the US under President Barack Obama, agreed in 2015 to voluntarily reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to combat climate change. Withdrawing would leave the US aligned only with Russia among the world’s industrialized economies in rejecting action to combat climate change.
The United Nations’ main Twitter page quoted Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as saying: “Climate change is undeniable. Climate change is unstoppable. Climate solutions provide opportunities that are unmatchable.”
Trump pledged during his presidential campaign to withdraw the US from the pact immediately after taking office, but has wavered on the issue since his victory.
His top aides were divided on the issue; some advocated withdrawal, others urged him to stay. One potential compromise that had been discussed involved remaining in, but adjusting the US emissions targets.
During Trump’s overseas trip last week, European leaders pressed him to keep the US in the pact. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Trump at length about the issue during a meeting in Brussels, and even at the Vatican, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin made his own pro-Paris pitch to Trump and his advisers.
Trump’s chief White House economic adviser Gary Cohn told reporters during the trip abroad that Trump’s views on climate change were “evolving” following the president’s discussions with European leaders.
Word of Trump’s impending announcement comes a day after the president met Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Like his boss, Pruitt has questioned the consensus of climate scientists that the Earth is warming and that man-made climate emissions are to blame.
What is not yet clear is whether Trump plans to initiate a formal withdrawal from the Paris accord, which under the terms of the agreement could take three years, or exit the underlying UN climate change treaty on which the accord was based.
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