But the president’s address — a mix of dry statistics and emotive language — was designed to discredit the pact, point by point. And several of Mr. Trump’s claims either relied on dubious data or distorted research reports.
Mr. Trump’s argument started with a faulty premise — that emissions reductions under the Paris agreement are compulsory — even though at one point he acknowledged they were voluntary.
“The United States,” he said, “will cease all implementation of the nonbinding Paris accord and the draconian financial and economic burdens the agreement imposes on our country.”
The president referred to a published study to claim that the climate pact would result in “as much as 2.7 million lost jobs by 2025,” of which 440,000 would be in manufacturing. By 2040, he said, the losses would balloon to 6.5 million industrial jobs, or $3 trillion in lost economic output, or about $7,000 in reduced income for the average household.
Critics dispute the methodology of that study, by the National Economic Research Associates. They note that it was conducted for the American Council for Capital Formation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — both vocal opponents of climate regulations.
