CLIMATE PACT UP IN THE AIR: Trump to announce decision whether to keep US in landmark Paris accord

[Teh One Who Knocks]

FOX News and The Associated Press


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President Trump is expected to announce Thursday that his administration will back out of the Paris Climate Agreement that was agreed upon in 2015 by nearly 200 countries, including the Obama administration, two sources told Fox News.

Trump, who vowed to pull out of the deal during the 2016 campaign, is expected to withdraw, but officials cautioned that there may be "caveats in the language,” leaving open the possibility that the decision is not final, a senior White House source told The Associated Press.

The accord would have forced the U.S. to reduce fossil fuel emissions by nearly 30 percent by 2025.

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Word of Trump's decision comes a day after the president met with Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Like his boss, Pruitt has questioned climate scientists who claim the Earth is warming and that man-made climate emissions are to blame.

Since taking office, Trump and Pruitt have moved to delay or roll back federal regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions, while pledging to revive the long-struggling U.S. coal mine industry.

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 U.N. climate change treaty on which the accord was based.

Top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that the decision to pullout would be a "stunning abdication of American leadership and a grave threat to our planet's future."

Ryan Zinkie, Trump’s Interior Secretary, told reporters at a news conference in Anchorage Wednesday that he can’t comment on the agreement because he hasn’t read up on it.

During Trump’s overseas trip last week, European leaders pressed him to keep the U.S. in the landmark agreement.

In a possible jab at the likely U.S. pullout, the United Nations tweeted on Wednesday a quote from Secretary General Antonio Guterres: "Climate change is undeniable. Climate action is unstoppable. Climate solutions provide opportunities that are unmatchable."

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The U.S. is the world's second largest emitter of carbon, following only China. Beijing, however, has reaffirmed its commitment to meeting its targets under the Paris accord, recently canceling construction of about 100 coal-fired power plants and investing billions in massive wind and solar projects.

[Godfather]

Lot of people going to bitch about this, not realizing climate change is caused largely by their individual choices and actions.... and ultimately most people aren't going to make any real sacrifices for climate change. They expect their government can magically fix it for them? Dream on.

[lost in melb.]

Lot of people going to bitch about this, not realizing climate change is caused largely by their individual choices and actions.... and ultimately most people aren't going to make any real sacrifices for climate change. They expect their government can magically fix it for them? Dream on.

Agreed.

In tandem with that, I suggest that conscientious people and businesses will continue to do good work for the climate and environment generally in the US, despite Trumps attacks on environmental protection/CC, ect.

i.e. Trump doesn't matter.

[RBP]

Lot of people going to bitch about this, not realizing climate change is caused largely by cow farts.... and ultimately most people aren't going to make any real sacrifices for climate change. They expect their government can magically fix it for them? Dream on.

:ftfy:

[RBP]

Agreed.

In tandem with that, I suggest that conscientious people and businesses will continue to do good work for the climate and environment generally in the US, despite Trumps attacks on environmental protection/CC, ect.

i.e. Trump doesn't matter.

So we are only conscientious if we agree with you? Why can't there be a middle ground where sustainable sources are developed in a market-based approach and without the creation of a sub-economy that trades in fictitious carbon counts?

[Godfather]

Truth. I like to keep reminding people that nobody bought a car until it made economic sense over a horse.

It's pretty hilarious to me that big tech companies are denouncing Trump over this, when their data centers produce some of the largest GHg emissions... as much as the airline industry in fact, and almost surely growing faster. Fix this shit yourself. You don't really want the government telling you how to do it anyways...

[redred]

So does this mean porky can get rid of his electric thing and buy a V8 now?

[Pony]

http://i.imgur.com/yJy8woz.jpg

[lost in melb.]

So we are only conscientious if we agree with you? Why can't there be a middle ground where sustainable sources are developed in a market-based approach and without the creation of a sub-economy that trades in fictitious carbon counts?

No, you can be conscientious in other ways.

The idea of the carbon economy etc., is to promote dialogue and provide incentives for business to transition. But if you don't believe in Climate Change, then I guess it seems ludicrous.

Middle ground sounds good to me.

[lost in melb.]

Truth. I like to keep reminding people that nobody bought a car until it made economic sense over a horse.

It's pretty hilarious to me that big tech companies are denouncing Trump over this, when their data centers produce some of the largest GHg emissions... as much as the airline industry in fact, and almost surely growing faster. Fix this shit yourself. You don't really want the government telling you how to do it anyways...


Truth. I like to keep reminding people that nobody bought a car until it made economic sense over a horse.

It's pretty hilarious to me that big tech companies are denouncing Trump over this, when their data centers produce some of the largest GHg emissions... as much as the airline industry in fact, and almost surely growing faster. Fix this shit yourself. You don't really want the government telling you how to do it anyways...

Ir really surprised me too!

Perhaps the company leadership have a personal/emotional investment in sustainable future (i.e for their kids), and applaud widespread sanctions to some degree as it effects all companies equally. In a completely unregulated economy they may have to now compromise on their personal ethics to compete with companies who will hurt the environment to increase their competitiveness (now that they are allowed to)

[lost in melb.]

Search Reuters
ENVIRONMENT | Fri Jun 2, 2017 | 5:15am EDT


By Valerie Volcovici and Jeff Mason | WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would withdraw the United States from the landmark 2015 global agreement to fight climate change, drawing anger and condemnation from world leaders and heads of industry.

Trump, tapping into the "America First" message he used when he was elected president last year, said the Paris accord would undermine the U.S. economy, cost U.S. jobs, weaken American national sovereignty and put the country at a permanent disadvantage to the other countries of the world.

"We're getting out," Trump said at a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden under sunny skies on a warm June day, fulfilling a major election campaign pledge.

"We don't want other leaders and other countries laughing at us any more. And they won't be," Trump said.

"The same nations asking us to stay in the agreement are the countries that have collectively cost America trillions of dollars through tough trade practices and in many cases lax contributions to our critical military alliance," Trump added.

Republican U.S. congressional leaders backed Trump. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell applauded Trump "for dealing yet another significant blow to the Obama administration's assault on domestic energy production and jobs."

Supporters of the accord, including some leading U.S. business figures, called Trump's move a blow to international efforts to tackle dangers for the planet posed by global warming.

Former Democratic President Barack Obama expressed regret over the pullout from a deal he was instrumental in brokering.

"But 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," Obama added.

Trump, who has called climate change a hoax, said his administration would begin negotiations either to re-enter the Paris accord or to have a new agreement "on terms that are fair to the United States, its businesses, its workers, its people, its taxpayers." He complained in particular about China's terms under the agreement.

International leaders reacted with disappointment, even anger.

"The decision made by U.S. President Trump amounts to turning their backs on the wisdom of humanity. I'm very disappointed... I am angry," Japanese Environment Minister Koichi Yamamoto told a news conference on Friday in an unusually frank tone.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said in a rare joint statement the agreement could not be renegotiated and urged their allies to hasten efforts to combat climate change and adapt.

"While the U.S. decision is disheartening, we remain inspired by the growing momentum around the world to combat climate change and transition to clean growth economies," said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

A summit between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and top European Union officials in Brussels on Friday will end with a joint statement - the first ever issued by China and the EU - committing both sides to full implementation of the Paris accord.

Speaking in Berlin a day earlier, Premier Li said China, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, would stick to its commitment to fight climate change.

Russia also voiced abiding support for the Paris accord, regardless of the U.S. withdrawal.

"We made the decision to join, and I don't think we will (change) it," Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich was quoted as saying by RIA news agency.

In India, one of the world's fastest growing major economies and a growing contributor to pollution, a top advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi vouched for intentions to switch to renewable power generation independent of the Paris accord.

"The prime minister is very keen on this," Arvind Panagariya said.

ISOLATED

With Trump's action, the United States will walk away from nearly every other nation in the world on one of the pressing global issues of the 21st century. Syria and Nicaragua are the only other non-participants in the accord, signed by 195 nations in Paris in 2015.

Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who is the incoming head of the U.N. Climate Change Conferences, which formalized the 2015 pact, said Trump's decision was "deeply disappointing".

Fiji, like many other small island nations, is seen as particularly vulnerable to global warming and a possible rise in ocean levels as a result of melting polar ice.

U.S. business leaders voiced exasperation with the Trump administration.

"Today's decision is a setback for the environment and for the U.S.'s leadership position in the world," Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein wrote on Twitter.

Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk and Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger said they would leave White House advisory councils after Trump's move.

Under the Paris accord, which took years to reach, rich and poor countries committed to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases generated by burning fossil fuels that are blamed by scientists for warming the planet.

(GRAPHIC - The 2015 Paris Agreement to limit climate change: tmsnrt.rs/2f3oKDV)

"I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris," Trump said.

Pittsburgh's mayor, Democrat Bill Peduto, shot back on Twitter that his city, long the heart of the U.S. steel industry, actually embraced the Paris accord.

The spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the action a "major disappointment." The U.N. body that handles climate negotiations said the accord could not be renegotiated based on the request of a single nation.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, speaking in Singapore on Friday, also called the U.S. decision "disappointing... but not at all surprising," adding that Australia remained "committed to our Paris commitments."
......ect

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-climatechange-trump-idUSKBN18R1J4

[lost in melb.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E2hYDIFDIU