Yesterday, President Donald Trump weighed in on whether the U.S. would continue to back an agreement signed by 195 countries in 2015, and the news wasn’t what many wanted to hear, but likely didn’t come as much of a surprise.
In that two-year-old agreement signed in Paris (the Paris Accord or Paris Agreement) countries committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to levels that will keep global temperatures from rising more than two degrees centigrade, the threshold most scientists agree should not be crossed.
Today, Mark Reynolds, the executive director of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL), called Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Accord the “biggest failure of leadership in American history.”
“At this pivotal moment for humanity, when the nations of the world must act together to avoid climate catastrophe, President Trump is saying the United States will no longer be part of that effort,” Reynolds said.
CCL is calling on the U.S. Congress to enact effective legislation to reduce carbon pollution. Several big city mayors and large corporations have indicated to the United Nations that they would like to commit to a climate change regime, separate from the Accord, that would still see the U.S. fight climate change. http://abcnews.go.com/US/cities-states-aim-paris-accord-trumps-withdrawal/story?id=47773477
In the meantime, Cathy Orlando, the Sudburian who is the national director of Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada, said this country should use provisions under the World Trade Organization to force the U.S. to do more to fight carbon.
“Everyone will soon know that trend to clean energy is irreversible and jobs await countries with the best climate and energy policies,” Orlando said in a news release. “Canada is the U.S.’s No. 1 destination for exports in the world and an estimated 9 million jobs in 35 states depend on exports to Canada.
“Under the World Trade Organization, Canada can level the playing field by enacting border taxes and we could actually push the USA to do enact price carbon too.”
Since 2010, Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada has worked in close collaboration with their counterparts in the USA.
“I really feel for our American colleagues, today. This is a tremendous blow on so many levels,” Orlando said. “We are in the together. We support each other. We know pricing carbon pollution is an important solution. We will keep calm and carry on.”
