When Mr. Trump revealed his decision to withdraw from the accord, he suggested the United States might be willing to stay if he could “make a deal that’s fair.”
President Emmanuel Macron of France, after inviting Mr. Trump to Paris, said he believed he had convinced the American president to stay in the climate accord.
“We talked in detail about what could enable him to come back into the Paris accords,” Mr. Macron told reporters.
According to the White House announcement, the United States will continue to participate in United Nations climate discussions including one in Bonn, Germany, in November aimed at fleshing out the Paris agreement. Continued American presence at such talks is to “protect U.S. interests and ensure all future policy options remain open to the administration,” the statement says.
The announcement adds that the United States “supports a balanced approach to climate policy that lowers emissions while promoting economic growth and ensuring energy security.” In language that mirrors wording the White House team was able to insert in Group of 20 discussions, it calls for working with other nations to “help them access and use fossil fuels more cleanly and efficiently.”
The Earth has warmed about 1 degree Celsius since the Industrial Revolution.
2. Humans are causing it.
Burning fossil fuels, raising cattle and chopping down rainforests all create heat-trapping gases.
3. Experts agree on these points.
More than
97% of climate scientists agree. It’s peer-reviewed science.
4. Global warming is dangerous and expensive.
Rising seas, mass extinction, super droughts … it’s not good.
5. Coastal cities from New York to Shanghai will flood.
Already, Miami Beach, Florida, is raising street levels and installing pumps.
6. Low-lying countries like the Marshall Islands may disappear beneath rising seas.
The
Marshallese word for hello also means “I love you” and “You are a rainbow.”
7. Some Alaskans are voting to relocate.
A home
fell off the thawing coastline in Shishmaref, Alaska.
8. The world is risking a climate migration crisis.
Rising seas, drought, conflict — all are expected to displace people.
9. Wildfire seasons in the US are getting longer.
On average, they’re
two months longer than in the 1970s, according to the Union for Concerned Scientists.
10. Heatwaves are becoming deadlier.
11. Ice sheets are melting rapidly.
A crack in Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf
grew 11 miles — just this week.
12. Coral reefs are suffering or disappearing, endangering livelihoods.
“
We’re as good as dead,” a young mother in Madagascar told me.
13. And mass extinction is brewing in the natural world.
Warming is a driver, and
75% of species could disappear in coming centuries.
14. Meanwhile, air pollution contributes to 3 million deaths per year, according to the WHO.
15. The US deserves the most blame for climate change.
It’s the biggest historical climate polluter. And currently the second-biggest per year.
16. Humans pollute 1,200 tonnes of CO2 per second.
That’s nearly
40 billion metric tons per year, says the Global Carbon Project.
17. Yet for all the bad news, there’s so much hope.
Even if it probably doesn’t seem that way right now.
18. The solutions are clear: 100% clean energy …
19. … and improved agricultural practices.
20. Coal use in China has declined slightly for three years.
21. India is considering an electric-car revolution.
The third biggest annual polluter is
considering all new electric cars by the 2030s.
22. The price of renewable energy is way, way down.
23. There are economic opportunities in the transition.
24. Some US cities and states are abandoning their dependence on fossil fuels.
25. And there are LOTS of clean energy jobs in the United States.
More than 750,000 of them, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.
26. Still … the goals and framework of the Paris Agreement matter — a lot.
27. There’s no solid logic for abandoning it.
Trump could have pursued his own energy agenda while staying in the accord.
28. Other countries are doing their part.
India and China are doing better than expected, possibly offsetting an increase in US pollution.
29. Many business leaders support the Paris Agreement …
It’s not just Apple — ExxonMobil, too.
30. … as do majorities of American voters in every state.
31. By exiting the climate accord, it’s Trump vs the world.
