jeudi 1 juin 2017
Trump Officially Pulls the US Out of the Paris Climate Agreement
Update:
In an announcement on June 1 in the Rose Garden, President Donald Trump officially withdrew the US from the Paris Climate Agreement. "The United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord but begin negotiations to reenter either it or an entirely new transaction," Trump said. The US will follow the appropriate steps to pull out, which will take up to four years to do so.
Original story:
President Donald Trump's opposition to the Paris Climate Agreement was apparent from the moment he launched his campaign. Despite high-ranking officials in his administration (namely former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, who is now secretary of state) encouraging him to maintain America's commitment to the treaty, Trump has reportedly decided to pull out.
According to Axios and CNN, both citing anonymous sources within the White House, Trump is expected to withdraw from the historic climate agreement. When the United Nations-sponsored treaty was signed in 2015, it involved 147 countries and years of preparation. Prompted by evidence demonstrating human impact on climate change, the Paris Agreement set a goal of limiting the global temperature increase to two degrees Celsius over the next century - or no more than two degrees Celsius higher than the pre-industrial age average temperature. This would require a concerted effort to diminish reliance on fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions drastically.
Based on climate models, if the global temperature rises by an average of more than two degrees, the damage done to the environment is likely irreversible. However, some critics contend that two degrees is already too high and the goal was more or less arbitrarily assigned to promote global participation.
The United States, Europe, India, and China are the world's leading carbon emitters. By pulling out of the agreement, Trump is not only gambling with America's future landscape but also the entire world's. Following reports of Trump's decision to reject the Paris Climate Agreement, the European Union and China are expected to reaffirm their commitment to curbing emissions under the terms of the agreement. Though it won't offset America's unbridled emissions completely, Germany, China, and India will surpass the objectives they set in 2015, according to a United Nations report released in May. India will obtain 40 percent of its energy from solar power - nearly eight years ahead of its 2020 goal - and China has reduced its reliance on coal-powered energy as well.
The report also offered a slightly reassuring theory: "The positive developments in India and China significantly outweigh the potentially negative effects on emissions from the Trump Administration's proposed rollbacks in the US, estimated at around 0.4 [gigatons of] CO2 by 2030."
The United States will join Syria and Nicaragua as the only other countries in the world who will not participate.
Related Posts:
Why I Will Never Apologize For Being a Working Mom This article, written by Mia Von Scha, was originally published on one of our favorite sites, YourTango. I love my kids - and I love my work. Parenting is a fascinating topic for me. I'm intrigued by the kinds of problems an… Read More
Furious Dad Speaks Out After Airline Bumps His 10-Year-Old Boy From a Flight For his kids' school break, Brett Doyle and his wife began making plans early. They decided on a family trip to Costa Rica and booked their flights for the vacation in August. However, when the day of the trip finally arriv… Read More
You'll Spot the Cool Detail on Kate Middleton's Red Suit Right Away While Hillary Clinton's mastered the pantsuit in every color, Kate Middleton's done so with the skirt suit. In the past, the Duchess of Cambridge has shown off a tweed and an emerald green set, and her latest addition to the… Read More
Tyra Banks Just Announced Life-Size 2, and We're Freaking Out If you count 2000's Life-Size as one of your favorite Disney Channel movies - and really, who doesn't? - then we have some great news: the forever-in-development sequel is really, definitely on the way! Tyra Banks confirmed … Read More
Miranda Kerr Has an Outfit For Just About Everything Sure, Miranda Kerr looks good when strutting down the runway, but you should see how amazing she looks on the street! Whether walking around New York, LA, or Paris (or arriving at the airport anywhere around the world), she'… Read More
0 comments:
Enregistrer un commentaire