President Trump on Monday signed an executive order to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, an agreement between all nations to combat climate change.
By withdrawing, the United States will join Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only four countries not participating in the accord, in which countries work together to keep global warming below levels that could lead to environmental disaster.
The move, one of several energy-related announcements in hours after his inauguration, it is another thing about the involvement of the United States in the world climate talks. During his first time Mr. Trump withdrew from the Paris accord, but President Biden quickly joined in 2020 after winning the White House.
Scientists, activists and Democratic officials have attacked the move as deepening climate change and setting back American workers. Along with other methods of Mr. Trump on energy Monday, withdrawing from the deal shows his administration’s determination to double down on fossil fuel emissions and production, and to move away from clean energy technologies like electric cars and wind turbines.
“If they want to be tough on China, don’t punish American automakers and hard-working Americans by giving the Chinese the keys to our clean car,” said Gina McCarthy, a former White House climate adviser and former head of the Environmental Protection Administration. . “The United States must continue to show leadership at the international level if we want to have a say in how billions of dollars in investments, policies and decisions are made.”
On Monday Mr. Trump also signed a letter to the United Nations, which administers the deal, informing the world body of the withdrawal. The withdrawal will be valid for one year after the letter is sent.
America’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions had already stalled by 2024, and Mr. Gas emissions fell only slightly last year, by 0.2 percent, compared to the previous year, according to estimates published this month by the Rhodium Group, a research firm.
Despite the rapid growth of solar and wind energy fueled by the climate legislation signed by the previous administration, the Depreciation Act, emissions levels remained low compared to last year because demand for electricity increased across the country, which led to an increase in the price of natural gas. power plants were burned.
The fact that pollution has not decreased significantly means that the United States is still far ahead of Mr. Biden, announced last month under the Paris Agreement, to cut greenhouse gases 61 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. Scientists say all major economies will have to cut their emissions deeply this decade to keep global warming at relatively low levels.
In the event that Mr. Trump has reversed most of the climate policies of Mr. Biden, US emissions may only drop 24 to 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, the Rhodium Group found.
“President Trump is choosing to start his term of dealing with the fossil fuel industry,” the Union of Concerned Scientists said in a statement. “His disgraceful and damaging decision is a bad precedent for what the people of the United States should expect from him and his anti-science cabinet.”
Since 2005, emissions in the United States have fallen by nearly 20 percent, a sharp drop at a time when the economy is also growing. But to meet its climate goals, US emissions would need to drop about 10 times each year as they have fallen over the past decade.
The United States is also a major exporter of emissions. Thanks to policies promoted by both Republicans and Democrats, the United States now produces more crude oil and natural gas than any nation in history. Mr. Trump has vowed to continue to increase manufacturing and exports.
Although the United States may not be a party to the Paris Agreement, it will still be a party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which hosts annual climate talks known as COPs. This year’s COP will be held in Brazil in November and countries will be announcing new pledges to reduce emissions.
A recent study by Climate Action Tracker, a research group, found that, if each country followed through on the pledges it has made so far, global temperatures could rise by about 2.6 degrees Celsius, or 4.7 degrees Fahrenheit, more. pre-industrial levels by the end of the century, well above the 1.5 degrees Celsius the Paris Agreement originally set as a goal.
“Trump’s irresponsibility is not surprising,” said Christiana Figueres, a Costa Rican politician and architect of the 2015 Paris Agreement. “In the long run, Trump will be gone but history will point to him and his friends in the fossil fuel without pardon.”
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