U.S. decision to pull out of Paris Accord decried
OTTAWA — President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate-change agreement is disappointing, but the world is marching inexorably towards a greener future with or without the United States, says Canada’s environment minister.
Catherine McKenna was responding to news that the U.S. is pulling out of the landmark 190country agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, although the president says the U.S. is willing to try to negotiate its reentry, under better terms.
She called Trump’s Rose Garden announcement “deeply disappointing,” but suggested the president is costing the U.S. a golden opportunity to profit from the inevitable growth of clean-tech initiatives around the globe.
“The clean-growth economy is where the world is going and Canada is going to be part of it,” McKenna said on Parliament Hill following Thursday’s White House news conference.
“Canada wants to create good jobs, and wants to grow our economy and create opportunities for business. We want to be there. We want to be providing solutions for the world. We know where we’re going.”
Trump framed his decision as reasserting American sovereignty, saying, “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.”
He said the U.S. would “cease all implementation” of the accord, under which his predecessor Barack Obama had voluntarily agreed to reduce emissions by about 1.45 billion tonnes by 2025.
Trump said that he would begin negotiations to re-enter the agreement or establish “an entirely new transaction” to get a better deal for the U.S. But re-entry was hardly a priority, he suggested: “If we can, great. If we can’t, that’s fine.”
Scientists say Earth is likely to reach more dangerous levels of warming sooner as a result of the president’s decision because America contributes so much to rising temperatures. Calculations suggest withdrawal could result in emissions of up to 2.7 billion tonnes of additional carbon dioxide in the air a year — enough to melt ice sheets faster, raise seas higher and trigger more extreme weather.