Trump Will Pull Out of Historic Paris Climate Agreement, US to Join Nicaragua and Syria

22 GOP Senators Urged Trump to Exit Agreement to Battle Climate Change

The United States is the world’s second-highest contributing nation of greenhouse gases, surpassed only by China. Last year, under President Barack Obama, the U.S. joined the Paris  Agreement to combat climate change. On Earth Day, April 22, 2016, at the U.N. General Assembly Hall in New York, Secretary of State John Kerry, his granddaughter on his lap, officially signed the agreement (photo).

To date, 195 countries have signed the historic agreement. Just Nicaragua and Syria have refused.

But now, with the support of his climate change denying EPA Director Scott Pruitt and 22 Republican Senators led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, President Donald Trump will exit the Paris Agreement.

“President Trump has made his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the decision. Details on how the withdrawal will be executed are being worked out by a small team including EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt,” Jonathan Swan at Axios reports.

“Pulling out of Paris is the biggest thing Trump could do to unravel Obama’s climate legacy,” Swan adds. “It sends a combative signal to the rest of the world that America doesn’t prioritize climate change and threatens to unravel the ambition of the entire deal.”

The 22 GOP Senators are among the most far right wing in modern history. They include climate change denying extremist Senators Jim Inhofe, John Barrasso, Roy Blunt, Mike Lee, and Ted Cruz.

 

 

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Image by U.S. Department of State via Wikimedia