After threatening to do so during his 2016 presidential campaign and recent conversations with European leaders, Donald Trump has reportedly decided to pull the United States out of the Paris climate change deal. In finally doing so, the president will thereby keep one of the many promises he repeatedly boasted about during his campaign, which endeavored to undo many domestic and international policies instituted by Barack Obama. The White House has yet to comment officially on the report, but considering Sean Spicer’s heated response to a climate change question on Tuesday, a statement is expected.
According to Axios, two sources with knowledge of Trump’s decision indicated he would be pulling the country out of the agreement one of two ways. Either Scott Pruit, the appointed Environmental Protection Agency administrator, and a “small team” will “initiate a full, formal withdrawal — which could take 3 years,” or propose a “faster but more extreme” option for the president. In that case, the U.S. will leave the climate change treaty established by the United Nations that underpins the Paris agreement.
I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2017
Trump’s decision, which CBS News and ABC News confirmed with additional reporting, will completely undo the Obama administration’s diplomatic efforts to curb the ill effects of climate change, which the latter ensured with his and China’s ratification of the Paris agreement last September. If true, it also flies in the face of Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s professed intent to “renegotiate” the terms of the international accord instead of outright abandoning it.
A sobering distinction must also be made within this Axios report. That is, the U.S. will join only two other nations — Nicaragua and Syria — who won’t participate in the Paris accords. So, the U.S. will stand as one of 3 out of 198 nations.
195/198 nations are on the right side of climate change reform today. The US will join Syria and Nicaragua in turning its back on the earth. https://t.co/HkOhZwo1Wr
— Women's March (@womensmarch) May 31, 2017
What’s more, Axios reported Jonathan Swan followed up his initial report with a tweet suggesting Ivanka Trump has been putting “intense” pressure on the president to keep the U.S. in the Paris agreement. Trump’s oldest daughter has long been a seemingly lone advocate for climate change legislation in the current administration, though her influence remains doubtful in light of her father’s decision.
https://twitter.com/jonathanvswan/status/869890727861465088