During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly threatened that he would exit the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord, an international treaty signed by 195 countries pledging to fight climate change, were he to win the election.During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly threatened that he would exit the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord, an international treaty signed by 195 countries pledging to fight climate change, were he to win the election. Unfortunately for all of us living on this increasingly warm planet, it seems, in this case, he’s decided to stick to his word. On Thursday, the White House confirmed that Trump had decided to pull out of the Paris climate deal. Minutes before Trump made the announcement, as a Marine jazz band played in the White House rose garden, a White House memo was sent out explaining his decision. “The Paris Accord is a BAD deal for Americans, and the President’s action today is keeping his campaign promise to put American workers first," it read. The withdrawal comes only days after the president met with global leaders at the G7 summit in Sicily, where he notably refused to sign a pledge promising to significantly reduce carbon emissions, made vague threats toward America’s NATO allies, and provoked German chancellor Angela Merkel to remark over the weekend that “the era in which we could rely completely on others is gone, at least partially.” Aside from facing international pressure to stay in the accord, Trump also dealt with strong opposition back in the United States, and reportedly even from within his White House. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, economic adviser Gary Cohn, and daughter Ivanka Trump were all reportedly lobbying Trump to stay within the Paris deal. Additionally, hundreds of corporations, including Starbucks, eBay, Tesla, and Monsanto signed an open letter since November affirming their commitment to fighting climate change and urging the president to honor the accord. “We want the U.S. economy to be energy efficient and powered by low-carbon energy,” the letter read. “Failure to build a low-carbon economy puts American prosperity at risk.” Earlier this month, Exxon Mobil’s CEO argued that the United States should “maintain a seat at the negotiating table” in the fight for climate change, and that remaining in the Paris climate agreement would “achieve economic growth and poverty reduction at the lowest cost to society.” When asked during Tuesday’s press conference where Trump stood on the Paris accord, press secretary Sean Spicer said that the president was still weighing his options. “He wants a fair deal for the American people,” Spicer said. But the White House seems to be conveniently forgetting that the majority of the American people, 69 percent to be exact, actually want the United States to stay in the Paris agreement. In fact, only 28 percent of Trump’s base believes the U.S. should drop out of the accord. In the end, even those concerned with job creation and “making America great again” still want to be able to breathe in fresh air. So what happens now that the United States, the world’s second top carbon polluter after China, exits the agreement? Scientists and economists fear the U.S.’s decision could potentially trigger a domino effect of other countries abandoning the deal, leading to a global increase in carbon emissions and a dangerous rise of global temperatures at a much faster rate. According to Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University, the aftermath of pulling out of the accord could be catastrophic for the planet. “Four years of the Trump administration may have only modest consequences, but eight years of bad policy would probably wreck the world’s chances of keeping warming below the international target of 2 degrees Celsius,” he explained. “The odds of our avoiding the climate danger zone would fade to zero.” Now how is that a fair deal for the American people?
POST: 2024-04-29