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U.S. withdrawal from Paris climate accord: Don't protect the environment is violating human rights
U.S. withdrawal from Paris climate accord: Don't protect the environment is violating human rights
2/6/17
U.S. President Trump announced on Thursday that the
United States would withdraw from the Paris climate accord, weakening efforts
to combat global warming and
embracing isolationist voices in his White House who argued that the agreement
was a pernicious threat to the economy and American sovereignty.
In a speech from the Rose Garden, Mr. Trump said the
landmark 2015 pact imposed wildly unfair environmental standards on American
businesses and workers. He vowed to stand with the people of the United States
against what he called a “draconian” international deal.
“I was elected to represent the citizens of
Pittsburgh, not Paris,” the president said, drawing support from members of his
Republican Party but widespread condemnation from political leaders, business
executives and environmentalists around the globe.
Mr. Trump’s decision to abandon the agreement for
environmental action signed by 195 nations is a remarkable rebuke to heads of
state, climate activists, corporate executives and members of the president’s
own staff, who all failed to change his mind with an intense, last-minute
lobbying blitz. The Paris agreement was intended to bind the world community
into battling rising temperatures in concert, and the departure of the Earth’s
second-largest polluter is a major blow.
Yes, the US is the world’s second-largest emitter of
carbon, behind only China – which, along with India, was singled out by Trump
as being favoured under the Paris deal. But both Beijing and New Delhi have
reaffirmed their commitment to meeting their targets.
But within minutes of the president’s remarks, the
leaders of France, Germany and Italy issued a joint statement saying that the
Paris climate accord was “irreversible” and could not be renegotiated.
Trump’s decision set off alarms worldwide, drawing
swift and sharp condemnation from foreign leaders as well as top
environmentalists and corporate titans, who decried the U.S. exit from the
Paris accord as an irresponsible abdication of American leadership in the face
of irrefutable scientific evidence.
In recent days, Mr. Trump withstood withering
criticism from European counterparts who accused him of shirking America’s role
as a global leader and America’s responsibility as history’s largest emitter of
planet-warming greenhouse gasses.
Supporters of the Paris agreements reacted with
pent-up alarm, condemning the administration for shortsightedness about the
planet and a reckless willingness to shatter longstanding diplomatic
relationships.
Environmental campaigners said the American absence
will make it considerable harder for the remaining 190 or so countries to reach
their agreed goals, given that the US is responsible for about 15 percent of
global emissions of carbon and promised $3 billion to help other nations.
The leaders of France, Germany and Italy issued a
joint statement voicing “regret” about Trump’s move, promising to redouble
their efforts to implement the Paris agreement and asserting that it cannot be
renegotiated.
Mr. Obama, in a rare assertion of his political
views as a former president, said, “The nations that remain in the Paris
agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries
created.”
“Even in the absence of American leadership; even as
this administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; I’m
confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up and do even more
to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet we’ve
got,” Mr. Obama said.
Condemnations of Trump’s decision were immediate and
strongly worded. Former vice president Al Gore, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for
his work raising awareness about global warming and personally tried to
persuade Trump, said the president’s decision was “reckless and indefensible.”
“It undermines America’s standing in the world and
threatens to damage humanity’s ability to solve the climate crisis in time,”
Gore said in a statement.
Jeff Immelt, the chief executive of General
Electric, tweeted: “Disappointed with today’s decision on the Paris Agreement.
Climate change is real. Industry must now lead and not depend on government.”
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd
Blankfein issued his first tweet Thursday, saying:
“Today’s decision is a setback for the environment and for the U.S.’s
leadership position in the world.”
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk and Disney chief
executive Robert Iger both announced Thursday that they were leaving Trump’s
business advisory council over his decision to withdraw from the Paris deal.
In Europe, a top German politician slammed Trump’s
decision, mocking him for his brusque brush-aside of a Balkan leader last week
at a NATO meeting in Brussels. “You can withdraw from a climate agreement but
not from climate change, Mr. Trump,” Social Democratic leader Martin Schulz
wrote on Twitter. “Reality isn’t just another statesman you shove away.”./.
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All comments [ 9 ]
On its website, I.B.M. reaffirmed its support for the Paris agreement and took issue with the president’s contention that it was a bad deal for American workers and the American economy.
Trump has abandoned the standard of American leadership, turned his back on what the public and the market demand, and shamelessly disregarded the safety of our families just to let the fossil fuel industry eke out a few more dollars in profits.
Withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement is bad for the environment, bad for the economy, and it puts our children's future at risk. Stopping climate change is something we can only do as a global community, and we have to act together before it's too late.
Generations of Americans will suffer the destructive effects of Trump’s greedy, selfish, and immoral decision.
The nations that remain in the Paris agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created.
Trump, who has labeled climate change a “hoax,” made good on a campaign promise to “cancel” the Paris agreement and Obama-era regulations that he said were decimating industries and killing jobs.
The US reneging on its commitment to the Paris Agreement renders it a rogue state on the international stage.
The White House's reckless decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement has devastating repercussions not only for the United States, but for our planet.
This is an incredibly shortsighted move backwards by the U.S. We're all on this planet together and we need to work together.
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