Is the U.S. Pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord or Not?

One of then-candidate Donald Trump’s campaign promises was to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accord. Trump kept that promise earlier in the summer much to the delight of hard line conservatives and derision of most progressives. Now it is being reported that, in the words of Stephen Colbert, the ‘Waffler in Chief’ has changed his mind. But did he?

Miguel Arias Cañete, European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, recently told the Wall Street Journal that the U.S. is not backing out of the Accord completely but merely reviewing the terms of the deal.

The narrative of the mainstream media quickly used Cañete’s pronouncement as proof that Trump is not to be trusted. Breitbart even offered several articles that questioned Trump’s loyalty what he promised those who voted for him.

The White House has been quick to deny the reports, contending that the President stands by his plan to pull out of the deal.

Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters, told the New York Post, “There has been no change in the United States’ position on the Paris agreement. “As the president has made abundantly clear, the United States is withdrawing unless we can re-enter on terms that are more favorable to our country.”

Trump’s announcement in July that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement was met by a tidal wave of objection from progressives. Environmental campaigners, the president’s political opponents, and the majority of media outlets termed the decision the death of America’s position as a global leader.

Michael Brune, chief executive of the Sierra Club, said: “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.”

Barack Obama blasted his successor’s decision saying: “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.”

The truth is that the Accord has not produced what it promised. Even as the U.S. came under a flurry of last-minute pressure to not abandon the Accord, data showed that the agreement did not prevent greenhouse gas emissions from rising in the European Union since its signing in 2015.

The European Environment Agency said, “Higher emissions were caused mainly by increasing road transport, both passenger and freight, and slightly colder winter conditions in Europe, compared to 2014, leading to higher demand for heating.”

Nick Loris of the conservative Heritage Foundation, responded that the EU’s statement demonstrated the hypocrisy of European officials who had lobbied for the U.S. to stick with the pact. “It speaks to how disingenuous this whole process has become and a failure to acknowledge it’s an ineffective approach,” he said.

Mr. Cañete perpetuated his claim that President Trump had changed his mind in the days leading up to the President’s powerful UN address. He said he planned to meet with American representatives “to assess what is the real US position,” but noted, “it’s a message which is quite different to the one we heard from President Trump in the past.”

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded by saying, “There has been no change in the United States’ position on the Paris agreement. “As the president has made abundantly clear, the United States is withdrawing unless we can re-enter on terms that are more favorable to our country.”

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that Mr. Trump is “open to finding those conditions where we can remain engaged with others on what we all agree is still a challenging issue … The plan is for Director Cohn to consider other ways in which we can work with partners in the Paris Climate Accord,” He added, “We want to be productive. We want to be helpful.”

Is Trump backtracking on his decision to pull out of a deal that punished the U.S. but rewards the world’s largest polluter, China? Trump supporters, those who voted for him, don’t see any of this as a defection from the President’s principles. Instead, the majority of them believe Trump is exerting his greatest attribute – the art of the deal.

~ American Liberty Report


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