Newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump has confirmed that he will withdraw the United States from the Paris climate deal.
According to a statement from the White House on Monday, the announcement is part of Trump’s broader agenda to boost U.S. oil and gas production.
Trump also withdrew the U.S. from the Paris deal during his first term in office, although the process took years and was immediately reversed by Joe Biden in 2021.
America’s second withdrawal is likely to take less time, perhaps as little as a year, because Trump will not be bound by the deal’s initial three-year commitment.
In the original 2015 pact governments agreed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
The United States is the world’s top producer of oil and natural gas thanks to a years-long drilling boom, including in Texas and New Mexico, fueled by fracking technology.
It has also been boosted by strong global prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The U.S. is currently the world’s second-biggest greenhouse gas emitter behind China and its departure undermines global ambition to slash those emissions.
The world is now on pace for global warming of more than 3C by the end of the century, according to a recent United Nations report.
That is a level scientists warn would trigger cascading impacts like sea level rise, heat waves, and devastating storms.
Nations have already been struggling to make steep cuts to emissions required to lower the projected temperature increase, as wars, political tensions and tight government budgets push climate change down the list of priorities.
As news of America’s second withdrawal broke Paul Watkinson, a former climate negotiator and senior policy advisor for France, said: ‘It will be harder this time because we are in the thick of implementation, up against real choices.’
Trump’s approach is a stark contrast to that of former President Joe Biden, who wanted the United States to lead global climate efforts.
He sought to encourage a transition away from oil and gas using a combination of subsidies and regulations.
Trump has said he intends to unwind those subsidies and regulations to grow the economy.
He has insisted he can do that while also ensuring clean air and water in the United States.
Trump also said his administration would declare a ‘national energy emergency’ to significantly expand drilling.
It will scrap upcoming stringent pollution standards for cars and trucks, which he has derided as an ‘electric vehicle mandate.’
‘President Trump will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord,’ the White House said in a statement.
Trump used his inauguration speech to preview a raft of sweeping energy-related federal orders aimed at undoing Biden’s climate legacy.
He said: ‘The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices, and that is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will drill, baby, drill!
‘We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it. With my actions today, we will end the Green New Deal, and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry.’
Trump’s domestic actions were welcomed by energy industry leaders, who view the administration’s policies as a return to the era of American energy dominance.
‘The US oil and natural gas industry stands ready to work with the new administration to deliver the common sense energy solutions Americans voted for,” said Mike Sommers, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute.
Leave a comment