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TMI BlogTrump signs executive order directing US withdrawal Paris climate agreement - againX X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Trump signs executive order directing US withdrawal Paris climate agreement - again X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... least well below 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial levels. Trump also signed a letter to the United Nations indicating his intention to withdraw from the 2015 agreement, which allows nations to provide targets to cut their own emissions of greenhouse gases from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas. Those targets are supposed to become more stringent over time, with countries facing a February 2025 deadline for new individual plans. The outgoing Biden administration last month offered a plan to cut US greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60 per cent by 2035. Trump's order says the Paris accord is among a number of international agreements that don't reflect US values and “steer American taxpayer dollars ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to countries that do not require, or merit, financial assistance in the interests of the American people." Instead of joining a global agreement, “the United States' successful track record of advancing both economic and environmental objectives should be a model for other countries,'' Trump said. Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation and a key architect of the Paris accord, called the planned US withdrawal unfortunate but said action to slow climate change “is stronger than any single country's politics and policies." The global context for Trump's action is “very different to 2017,'' Tubiana said Monday, adding that “there is unstoppable economic momentum behind the global transition, which the US has gained from an ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d led but now risks forfeiting." The International Energy Agency expects the global market for key clean energy technologies to triple to more than USD 2 trillion by 2035, she said. “The impacts of the climate crisis are also worsening. The terrible wildfires in Los Angeles are the latest reminder that Americans, like everyone else, are affected by worsening climate change,” Tubiana said. Gina McCarthy, who served as White House climate adviser under President Joe Biden, a Democrat, said that if Trump, a Republican, “truly wants America to lead the global economy, become energy independent and create good-paying American jobs," then he must “stay focused on growing our clean energy industry. Clean technologies are driving down energy cos ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ts for people all across our country." The world is now long-term 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit (1.3 degrees Celsius) above mid-1800s temperatures. Most but not all climate monitoring agencies said global temperatures last year passed the warming mark of 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, and all said it was the warmest year on record. The withdrawal process from the Paris accord takes one year. Trump's previous withdrawal took effect the day after the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Biden. While the first Trump-led withdrawal from the landmark U.N. agreement — adopted by 196 nations — shocked and angered nations across the globe, “not a single country followed the US out the door,” said Alden Meyer, a longtime climate negotiations analyst wi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... th the European think tank E3G. Instead, other nations renewed their commitment to slowing climate change, along with investors, businesses, governors, mayors and others in the US, Meyer and other experts said. Still, they lamented the loss of US leadership in global efforts to slow climate change, even as the world is on track to set yet another record hot year and has been lurching from drought to hurricane to flood to wildfire. “Clearly America is not going to play the commanding role in helping solve the climate crisis, the greatest dilemma humans have ever encountered,? said climate activist and writer Bill McKibben. “For the next few years the best we can hope is that Washington won't manage to wreck the efforts of others.” About ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... half of Americans “somewhat” or “strongly” oppose US action to withdraw from the climate accord, and even Republicans aren't overwhelmingly in favor, according according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research. Only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults “somewhat” or “strongly” in favor of withdrawing from the Paris agreement, while about one-quarter are neutral. Much of the opposition to US withdrawal comes from Democrats, but Republicans display some ambivalence as well. Slightly less than half of Republicans are in favour of withdrawing from the climate accord, while about 2 in 10 are opposed. China several years ago passed the United States as the world's largest annual carbon dioxide emitting nation. The US — ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the second biggest annual carbon polluting country — put 4.9 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in the air in 2023, down 11 per cent from a decade earlier, according to the scientists who track emissions for the Global Carbon Project. But carbon dioxide lasts in the atmosphere for centuries, so the United States has put more of the heat-trapping gas that is now in the air than any other nation. The US is responsible for nearly 22 per cent of the carbon dioxide put in the atmosphere since 1950, according to Global Carbon Project. While global efforts to fight climate change continued during Trump's first term, many experts worry that a second Trump term will be more damaging, with the United States withdrawing even further from climate ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... efforts in a way that could cripple future presidents' efforts. With Trump, who has dismissed climate change, in charge of the world's leading economy, those experts fear other countries, especially China, could use it as an excuse to ease off their own efforts to curb carbon emissions.
Simon Stiell, the UN climate change executive secretary, held out hope that the US would continue to embrace the global clean energy boom.
“Ignoring it only sends all that vast wealth to competitor economies, while climate disasters like droughts, wildfires and superstorms keep getting worse," Stiell said. “The door remains open to the Paris Agreement, and we welcome constructive engagement from any and all countries.” (AP) GSP X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... IB ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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