Unpopular Decision and US Abdication
Given that 69% of registered voters, in a post-election poll in September, viewed withdrawal from the Paris accord as a bad idea, this will not be a popular action taken by the administration.
US retreat from the Paris accord, announced by President Trump earlier today, amounts to a massive foreign policy mistake, a mistake that will be felt across all US alliances and in many other ways, too.
This action essentially turns over US global preeminence, an abdication, in clean energy to countries like China, who may or may not rise to the occasion, and may cause difficulty in trade negotiations with signatory nations that disapprove of US withdrawal.
Non-Compliance and Damaged US Stature
Another result, on the other hand, is US departure from the agreement it was instrumental in creating may inspire developing nations, such as China, to forgo global warming initiatives as well, potentially accelerating environmental problems and reversing the significant—and crucial—progress already made.
The United States also risks damaging its status as a world leader, not just in climate change but in other areas as well, in withdrawing from the 2015 accord, angering member nations who may see this action as an affront that compromises their own interests.
Furthermore, the results of this withdrawal may also play crucial in bringing about national security threats, such as a proliferation in terrorist activities. Since climate change will result in increasing sea temperatures, flooding, and protracted abnormalities in whether patterns and temperatures, it is expected that these disastrous effects will tax the resources of many already vulnerable countries, skyrocketing poverty, political tensions, and social strife, all of which act as an accelerant for terrorist threats.
Jobs and Business Opportunity Loss
And if that weren’t enough to convince the president of the error of his ways, departing from Paris will also mean turning down nearly $1.5 trillion worth of new opportunities in business “that the global low-carbon economy represents.” This means the US president has just cut American businesses out of tremendous opportunity in a burgeoning economy and American citizens out of the jobs and affluence such a global economy offers, a move that runs contrary to his mantra as the “jobs president.”
President Obama, the president under whose leadership the Paris accord came into being, offered poignant remarks about Trump’s announcement this afternoon. The former president said that the responsibility for continuing the climate change fight will now fall onto the shoulders of states and cities that must rise to the occasion and continue to advance the way for carbon emissions reductions.
The former president went on to say that America is in essence losing out on the considerable economic benefits of remaining in the agreement, suggesting that “The nations that remain in the Paris Agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created.”
But President Obama also made clear that he believes that the US ought to be on the forefront of climate change, and added that “even in the absence of American leadership; even as this Administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; I’m confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet we’ve got.”
Anti-Modern President
In the end, Trump will be severely rebuked for his anti-modern actions, and the country and its people will be, once again, left to shoulder the burdens of bad decisions made by ill-informed leaders. While Europe and the world are watching, and many nations, including our own European allies, sharply criticized Trump’s decision to withdraw from Paris, they made clear that reducing carbon emissions and the Paris Accord that memorializes that effort will continue, with or without the United States.
Other nations, such as China, referred to the American decision as “selfish and irresponsible.”
This is not a good day for America.