Today seems to be the day a varied group of senior administration officials will meet to hash out Trump’s position on Paris. While this meeting will probably not result in a final decision, it will provide Trump the justification to stay in or leave the agreement.
In the “blow it all up” corner are Bannon and industry puppet Pruitt, who will argue that the US should withdraw from the deal and send a clear signal to the world that the US can’t be trusted to keep its promises. They represent the side of the spectrum that funded Trump’s win and have the support of swamp creatures and conspiracy-theory-touting Assad apologists.
Outside of the White House, the pro-Paris side has scientists, a vast majority of the public and US corporations. Along with Ivanka and the globalists, the White House Tillerson-led contingent will suggest the US stay party to the agreement but revise our commitment to allow for more fossil fuel use. This will send a slightly fuzzier, more relaxed signal to the world that the US can’t be trusted to keep its promises.
In an in-depth Vanity Fair piece, Sarah Ellison uses the reality-TV-esque atmosphere of the West Wing to understand the warring White House factions. The overall message is one that gives us a twinge of hope for tomorrow’s meeting: Trump trusts no one more than his family, and Ivanka and Jared are pushing for Paris. (BTW, for those of you wondering where all the pro-Ivanka stories are coming from, Buzzfeed has the answer.)
Given that clean energy is taking off regardless of federal policy and that states, cities and businesses continue to act on climate, Trump’s decision is largely symbolic.
But of course, he can cede leadership to China and Europe and let them create thousands of renewable energy jobs. Meanwhile, Trump can roll back regulations that protect communities so that a few more coal miners can keep their black-lung causing, climate-changing, coal ash-producing jobs. (A nod to a great NYT story there--worth restating that their environmental reporting is top-notch, despite our opinion-page knuckle-rapping yesterday).
One would hope that the president would put the nation’s best interests ahead of partisan politics and conspiracy theorists. But given the fact that his wife needed to remind him to put his hand on his heart for the national anthem… we’re not holding our breath that he’s going to put America first.
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