Paris Climate Accord Withdrawal Underway (Trump, Dense Energy Winning)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- November 12, 2019

“Getting out of the Paris climate treaty is the single biggest and most important deregulatory action taken by the Trump administration.”

– Myron Ebell, Competitive Enterprise Institute, November 8, 2019

The Trump Administration continues to keep its promises when it comes to climate policy. The focus is on free-market adaptation, not alarmist, government-led mitigation, to deal with the uncertainties of future weather events, whether natural or otherwise.

A 277-word press release from The U.S. Department of State, On the U.S. Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, is from Secretary Mike Pompeo.

Today the United States began the process to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Per the terms of the Agreement, the United States submitted formal notification of its withdrawal to the United Nations. The withdrawal will take effect one year from delivery of the notification.

As noted in his June 1, 2017 remarks, President Trump made the decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement because of the unfair economic burden imposed on American workers, businesses, and taxpayers by U.S. pledges made under the Agreement. 

The United States has reduced all types of emissions, even as we grow our economy and ensure our citizens’ access to affordable energy. Our results speak for themselves: U.S. emissions of criteria air pollutants that impact human health and the environment declined by 74% between 1970 and 2018. U.S. net greenhouse gas emissions dropped 13% from 2005-2017, even as our economy grew over 19 percent.

The U.S. approach incorporates the reality of the global energy mix and uses all energy sources and technologies cleanly and efficiently, including fossils fuels, nuclear energy, and renewable energy. In international climate discussions, we will continue to offer a realistic and pragmatic model – backed by a record of real world results – showing innovation and open markets lead to greater prosperity, fewer emissions, and more secure sources of energy. 

We will continue to work with our global partners to enhance resilience to the impacts of climate change and prepare for and respond to natural disasters. Just as we have in the past, the United States will continue to research, innovate, and grow our economy while reducing emissions and extending a helping hand to our friends and partners around the globe.

Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a key player behind President Trump’s pro-consumer, pro-taxpayer, pro-trade policy, noted:

Getting out of the Paris climate treaty is the single biggest and most important deregulatory action taken by the Trump administration. The Obama administration in its “Nationally Determined Commitment” pledged to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26% below 2005 levels by 2025. But that’s just the start. Parties to the treaty agreed to make further commitments to reduce emissions every five years. [1]

On to 2020

The Progressive Left knows that defeating President Trump in 2020 is necessary to save the Paris Accord–at least on paper. But the real story is that energy density, think mineral energies, is undermining the flimsy agreement each and every day. This is why the father of the climate alarm, James Hansen, called the Paris accord

a fraud really, a fake. It’s just bullshit for them to say: ‘We’ll have a 2C warming target and then try to do a little better every five years.’ It’s just worthless words. There is no action, just promises. As long as fossil fuels appear to be the cheapest fuels out there, they will be continued to be burned.

Fossil fuels are the future, not the recent past. Expect pessimism in a world of facts at next month’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP 25) in Madrid, Spain.

—————-

[1] Trump’s decision was courageous. Continues Ebell: “But in the months after taking office in January 2017, a massive campaign was mounted to force the President to break his promise. Opponents included several key White House staff, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, many heads of state, scores of corporate CEOs, assorted billionaires, entertainment celebrities, prominent scientists and scientific institutions, and nearly every environmental pressure group in the world. The conservative movement, led by groups in the Cooler Heads Coalition, engaged in a counter campaign to convince the President to keep his promise. These efforts included a joint letter from 44 groups, a thirty-second television ad, and a significant policy study.”