Trump orders US withdrawal from Paris Agreement, revokes Biden’s climate actions: NPR

President Donald Trump is once again withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement.

Under the international climate deal, first negotiated in 2015, countries around the world agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in a bid to limit global warming and prevent the worst impacts of climate change.

Trump argued the deal placed an unfair burden on the U.S. economy, and he withdrew the U.S. during his first term. The United States has officially joined under President Joe Biden in 2021.

On Monday, Trump restarted the process by signing an order on stage in front of supporters at Capital One Arena, just hours after taking office.

“I am immediately withdrawing from the unfair and unilateral Paris climate agreement scam,” he said in earlier remarks, to cheers from the audience. “The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity.”

China is currently the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, although it is also the world leader in renewable energy deployment. U.S. emissions have declined since the mid-2000s, but they remain the largest historical contributor to total carbon dioxide emissions.

The decision to exit the Paris Agreement was not a surprise, given that the campaign marked the start months ago.

But that comes later the hottest year on recordas major Wildfires still burning in Los Angelesand only a few months later devastating hurricanes struck communities from Florida to North Carolina. Climate change increases the risk of hurricanes, leads to more extreme precipitation, and makes more intense and destructive wildfires more likely.

Environmental groups harshly criticized the decision. Rachel Cleetus, policy director of the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental watchdog group, said the human and economic consequences of climate change will only get worse if the United States does not do its part to limit warming.

“Even now…we’re seeing accelerating droughts, storms, heat waves, floods and sea level rise,” Cleetus said. “It’s already just astounding to see the kind of impacts that are happening.”

Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation and architect of the Paris Agreement, said in a statement that the United States’ withdrawal from the agreement was regrettable. But, she added, international climate action “has proven resilient and stronger than the policies and politics of any country.”

“This moment should serve as a wake-up call to reform the system, ensuring that those most affected – the communities and individuals on the front lines – are at the center of our collective governance,” Tubiana said.

An ambitious global tool, but which has not yet measured up

Under the Paris Agreement, nearly every country in the world agreed to a goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

But the the world is not on the right track right now to achieve these objectives. Last year it was hottest in human historyas global average temperatures hovered around that 1.5 degree Celsius warming level.

Under the terms of the Paris Agreement, countries submit emissions reduction targets and provide periodic updates on their progress. Before Biden left office, he announced a new U.S. goal: reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60% from peak levels by 2035, a goal that would likely require a rapid fuel transition fossils. This objective is now irrelevant.

In the order signed Monday, Trump directed his U.N. ambassador to submit formal notification of the U.S. exit. (Trump’s nominee for U.N. ambassador, Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, has not yet been confirmed by the Senate.) While the order states that the U.S. withdrawal will take effect “immediately” once notification is given, the Paris Agreement itself states that the process takes a full year.

Even though Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement during his first term, it was not easy to leave. The administration was subject to restrictions on exiting the agreement during its early years. It ultimately took nearly four years before the United States withdrew from the deal, said David Waskow, who directs international climate policy at the World Resources Institute.

“It’s a lot different this time,” Waskow said.

Leaving the deal could prove detrimental, Waskow said, potentially marginalizing the United States from some clean energy and green technology markets and reducing its influence over other countries. This could hamper some of Trump’s broader economic goals for the United States.

Trump has been hostile to many renewable energy initiatives and other climate measures, including efforts to promote electric vehicles. His candidate to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, recognized the reality of human-caused climate change during his confirmation hearing, but indicated that the Trump administration would seek to repeal many environmental regulations.

Roll back Biden-era climate efforts

Trump also issued a series of other orders on Monday aimed at boosting fossil fuels and rolling back Biden-era initiatives to limit greenhouse gas emissions. He declared a national energy emergency and revoked lots of Bidendecrees on climate change. New orders direct agencies to roll back restrictions on offshore drilling and reconsider protections for Alaskans. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Trump also issued a moratorium on new wind projects on federal lands, suspending new leases and permits for onshore and offshore wind farms. He revoked an executive order that required government regulators to assess the risks of climate change for the financial system. And he asked agencies to review any regulations that could “burden the development of the nation’s energy resources.”

That could include key climate policies from the Biden administration, including EPA rules limiting emissions from coal and gas power plants and new fees on methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.

Julia Simon contributed reporting to this story.