Trump pulls US out of Paris climate change agreement citing ‘partial treatment to India and China’
Claiming that the Paris climate accord was not tough on India and China, President Donald Trump declared Thursday that he was pulling the US from the landmark agreement. The announcement deals a major blow to worldwide efforts to combat global warming and also distances the US from its closest allies abroad.
Trump alleged that the Paris agreement on climate change agreed upon by more than 190 countries was “negotiated poorly by Obama admin and signed out of desperation”. He said that his decision was “a reassertion of America’s sovereignty. Trump said he was “elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.”
“In order to fulfil my solemn duty to protect our citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord… We are getting out and we will start to renegotiate,” Trump said at the Rose Garden of the White House.
The withdrawal reneges on American accountability and responsibility for being historically the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases that have raised Planet Earth’s temperature to dangerous levels and brought misery upon the globe. Trump made the announcement of US withdrawal at the White House Rose Garden, saying that he was doing it because it was his “solemn duty to protect America and its people”, while claiming that the accord favoured China and India.
The US President also made a laundry list of complaints against India, falsely saying New Delhi was demanding “billions and billions and billions” of foreign aid to conform to the deal, and claiming that the accord will allow India to double coal production by 2020. The withdrawal is on America’s interest and won’t matter much to the climate,” Trump maintained.
In 2015, the US released 5.1.million kilotons of CO2, accounting for a sixth of global emissions and more than that of 28 EU countries combined. In comparison, India, with four times the US population, accounted for 2 million tons of CO2. Such emissions are scientifically proven to have caused global warming that in turn has led widespread climate changes across the planet. The Paris Agreement on Climate Change is aimed at cutting emissions and keeping global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
