On November 6, 2012 Donald J. Trump tweeted, “The concept of
global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S.
manufacturing non-competitive”. He promised to “cancel the Paris Climate
Agreement and stop all payments of US tax dollars to UN global warming
programs.
On June 1, 2017, President Trump announced that the United States
would withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord.
According to Trump, the onerous energy restrictions of the Paris
Accord could cost the US $3 trillion in lost GDP, 6.5 million industrial jobs
and households would have $7,000 less income. These statistics are staggering. Trump’s
source is the National Economic Research Associates. As you would expect, the
assumptions behind these numbers have been rigorously contested.
According to President Trump,
“withdrawal from the agreement represents a reassertion of America’s
sovereignty”. And Trump made it clear that he “was elected to represent the
citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris”. And it was time to make America great
again.
Across the world, Trump’s decision to exit the Paris Climate
Accord has been met with robust defiance and criticism. Speaking in English, French
President Emmanuel Macron said, "I do respect this decision but I do think
it is an actual mistake both for the US and for our planet… Wherever we live,
whoever we are, we all share the same responsibility: make our planet great
again."
In a joint statement, the EU and China termed Trump’s decision
to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord a “big mistake”. It is expected that
closer cooperation between China and the EU will ramp up research and
investments and accelerate transition into a low carbon economy.
Condemnation was swift in the US. Democratic Senator Chuck
Schumer called Trump’s decision a “devastating failure of historic
proportions”. Hillary Clinton said the decision to exit the Paris Accord was a
“historic mistake that leaves American workers behind”. Former President Obama,
who spent years negotiating the landmark agreement, said the Trump
administration joined a small band of nations that “reject the future”.
A group of 180 mayors have joined 10 governors in denouncing
President Trump's decision to withdraw the country from the Paris Climate
Accord. The mayors have vowed to “adopt, honor and uphold commitments to the
goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement”. Over 80 university presidents and 100
businesses have also joined the Climate Mayors. Michael Bloomberg, former New
York Mayor said, “We’re going to do everything America would have done if it
had stayed committed.” Mayor Bloomberg will personally pay the $15 million the
United Nations will lose after Trump exits the Paris Accord.
No comments:
Post a Comment