Fecteau: Trump’s Toxic Reversal on Climate Change

Sunday, June 04, 2017

 

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Donald Trump

President Donald J. Trump has disappointingly pulled out of the Paris Accord on climate change, an agreement between nations to willingly reduce carbon emissions. Mr. Trump has said the United States will withdraw so he can renegotiate a better deal, more favorable to the United States. This is odd because all the commitments the United States made were voluntary. 

I am not sure what his motivations are, but this action will have profound global implications. Mr. Trump also canceled billions in payments over the next eight years for the United Nations’ own climate change reduction initiatives. Climate change is one of the most serious threats facing our planet. We can already see the impact of climate change from the various water shortages, intense storms, scorching heat waves and immense flooding occurring around the world. Leaving the Paris Accord is a toxic policy reversal we cannot afford. 

The Paris Accord is very significant. This is the first unified climate change initiative adopted by 195 countries. The accord created a global action plan that would decrease carbon emissions from greenhouse gases (e.g. provide incentives to invest in cleaner energy like solar power), and also mitigate the impact of the changing climate. This agreement was more than a milestone, it is a set of concrete steps to roll back climate change, and voluntarily address the impact of it through transparent laws, and statutory reforms. 

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Under the terms of the agreement, the United States can trigger a withdrawal after several years. Yet, even remaining part of the accord is just a nominal gesture, the United States will not meet the targets for reduced greenhouse emissions after all. The United States is the second biggest producer of greenhouse gases – a key factor that is causing climate change. Without American action, greenhouse emissions would continue or even increase, no matter what other countries do, because of our dependence on greenhouse emitting industries. 

The United States is essentially snubbing the rest of the world and could face a major international backlash.  We now join just two other countries -- Syria and Nicaragua – in not being a party to the Paris Accord; meaning, the United States can be branded simply a climate change recluse by our critics. By reneging on the deal, the United States is additionally relinquishing its global leadership, embracing isolationism over cooperation ceding its role to China, a country that reaffirmed its commitment to the Paris Accord. 

There will be profound economic consequences as well. Mr. Trump isn’t putting American workers first, but letting petty politics get in the way of an economic boon.  The green market (e.g. solar panels) is estimated to be worth nearly $6 trillion by 2030. This will be a massive missed economic opportunity for American workers and markets. The countries who remain in the agreement could levy stiff tariffs on imported green technology from the United States costing it countless jobs. 

Withdrawal from the Paris Accord is not just toxic to our environment and our international standing, but for Mr. Trump too. A majority of Americans support the Paris Accord, and Mr. Trump’s approval ratings are – again – hitting record lows.  Even hundreds of businesses have urged Mr. Trump to remain a party to the Paris Accord.  The CEO of Telsa, Elon Musk, has resigned from Trump’s business advisory council in protest over this terrible decision. There is still likely to be more pushback from the business community. 

Pulling out of the Paris Accord is a bad deal all the way around. We have only one planet, and we need to protect it. Nearly all recognized countries agree – including the pariah states of Iran and North Korea -- with that basic principle except now the United States. 

But this shouldn’t be surprising from a man – Mr. Trump – that called climate change a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. 

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Matt Fecteau ([email protected]) of Pawtucket, Rhode Island was a Democratic candidate for office in 2014 and 2016. He is a former White House national security intern and Iraq War veteran. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewFecteau

 

Related Slideshow: RI Democrats React to Trump Withdrawing from Paris Climate Agreement

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Gina Raimondo

RI Governor

I am deeply disappointed that the President has decided to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. Republicans and Democrats alike recognize that the Paris Agreement is about so much more than climate change. It’s about opportunity, stewardship and America’s standing as a global leader. 

President Trump’s action will not deter Rhode Island from taking necessary steps to address climate change. Our action at the state level will create new jobs and attract new investment in the green economy. 

We’ve set a goal to secure 1,000 MW of clean energy resources and double the number of clean energy jobs by 2020. Ocean State families and businesses are on the front lines fighting climate change. I will continue toward with the General Assembly and partners in other states to protect our environment and advance clean energy alternatives, while creating new opportunities for our workforce in the process. 

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Jim Langevin 

U.S. Congressman

President Trump’s ill-considered decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement puts the future of our entire planet at risk. The withdrawal represents an abandonment of pledges to protect our environment and risks undermining the entire accord, which includes nearly every country on earth. In addition, the President’s action cedes Unites States leadership and means losing a seat at the table to negotiate global agreements in our country's best interest.

The Obama Administration made significant progress toward slowing the rapidly warming climate by negotiating the Paris Climate Agreement to reduce greenhouse emissions on a global scale. Unwinding these commitments represents another assault by President Trump on the health of the public and the planet. His Administration continues to deny climate change despite the overwhelming scientific evidence that shows this is an ongoing human-caused crisis.

Rhode Island is on the front lines of sea level rise, and our citizens will ultimately pay the price for inaction today. Communities like my hometown of Warwick are particularly vulnerable to the storms and floods that come with climate change. Warming seas have chased our traditional catch out of our fisheries and threaten to decimate our beloved Ocean State coastline. Abandoning the Paris deal, the culmination of a multi-year effort by world leaders, is an abdication of our responsibility to leave the world a better place for our children.”

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Sheldon Whitehouse

U.S. Senator

“Donald Trump and his children said just a few years ago that climate change was ‘irrefutable’ and its consequences ‘catastrophic and irreversible.’ They were right. There is no denying the growing threat of rising seas, warming global temperatures, and melting glaciers and ice sheets. 

But we can still avoid the worst if we quickly reduce carbon emissions. That is why ignoring reality and leaving the Paris Agreement could do down as one of the worst foreign policy blunders in our nation’s history, isolating the U.S. further after Trump’s shockingly bad European trip. 

Trump is betraying the country, in the service of Breitbart fake news, the shameless fossil fuel industry, and the Koch brothers’ climate denial operation. It’s Sad. 

America’s biggest corporations and investors urged the President to stick with international efforts to address the climate threat. They and all of us will now have to proceed with a seriousness of purpose commensurate with the threat, knowing of this President’s grave defects. 

If you haven’t joined an environmental group, join one. If your voice needs to be heard, get active. If you are a big corporation with good climate policies that has shied away from engaging politically, it’s time to engage. And if you’re a university that teaches climate science, it’s time to stand up for your scientists. Whoever you are, help end climate denial and take action.”

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Jack Reed

U.S. Senator

“President Trump’s decision to abandon the Paris climate agreement is a blow to the environment that makes us a less secure nation. Our military, which spends every hour of every day thinking about how to protect Americans says climate change is a problem and a real threat multiplier. Indeed, climate change is an established part of the military’s threat and risk assessments.

The United States should continue to be a leader when it comes to protecting the planet; instead, the President is abdicating this responsibility. President Trump is unwisely putting the United States alongside Syria and Nicaragua in declining to be part of the Paris agreement. 

The American people deserve better.” 

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David Cicilline

U.S. Congressman

The President’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement is a terrible mistake. It will diminish American leadership in the world, undermine our ability to create good-paying jobs, and contribute to the further degradation of our environment. 

It is very disappointing that we now know, without question, that the President of the United Sates is a climate change denier. His decision today ignores the overwhelming scientific consensus regarding the serious consequences failing to address climate change. 

The only thing President Trump will accomplish by this decision is to set the United States and world back decades in this fight. I have no doubt that future generations are going to wonder what the hell we were thinking today”

 
 

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