This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/live/2017/jun/01/donald-trump-paris-climate-agreement-live-news
The article has changed 26 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 2 | Version 3 |
---|---|
Paris climate agreement: Trump withdraws US from global accord – live | |
(35 minutes later) | |
9.00pm BST | |
21:00 | |
Trump's Paris pullout is more damaging to the US than the climate | |
Damian Carrington | |
Will Donald Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Paris climate change agreement tip the world into fiery catastrophe? The extraordinary unity of the rest of the world’s nations in tackling global warming, allied with the booming green economy, driven by plummeting renewable energy costs, are strong reasons to think not. | |
A much more likely casualty of Trump’s choice is the US economy he claims to be protecting: America’s brilliance at innovation, investment and building businesses will no longer have its government’s support. The prize of leadership in the 21st-century economy could be sacrificed in a doomed attempt to revive the fossil-fuelled economy of the 20th century. | |
However much Trump “digs coal”, he cannot force companies to build coal-fired power stations if wind and solar are cheaper and executives are smart enough to realise that a billion-dollar bet on a new plant – likely to be closed by Trump’s successor – is not a winner. | |
Instead, US states and cities will continue to pursue the green future that secures clean air, water and the promise of climate stability for their citizens. That is no small deal: combined together, California and New York City would be the fourth biggest economy in the world. | |
Read further: | |
8.58pm BST | |
20:58 | |
Trump says withdrawing from the deal “represents a reassertion of America’s sovereignty.” Then he says it’s his “highest obligation and greatest honor” to protect the US constitution. | |
8.58pm BST | |
20:58 | |
Reactions, cont'd | |
Lauren Gambino | |
House Speaker Paul Ryan, who long opposed the accord, praised Trump’s decision to withdraw, calling the treaty “simply a raw deal for America”: | |
“Signed by President Obama without Senate ratification, it would have driven up the cost of energy, hitting middle-class and low-income Americans the hardest,” Ryan said in a statement. “In order to unleash the power of the American economy, our government must encourage production of American energy.” | |
8.54pm BST | |
20:54 | |
Trump conjures global conspiracy behind Paris deal | |
Trump says the tax reform bill “is moving along in Congress” and people will be “pleasantly surprised.” | |
“It’s going very well,” Trump says. | |
Then he says the Paris deal “handicaps the US economy in order to win praise from the very global activists and [who?] that have long sought to gain wealth at our expense...” | |
In that section, Trump pointed to a shadowy global conspiracy that created the Paris deal to steal US treasure and insult her citizenry. This is the Bannon section. | |
“You see what’s happening,” Trump says. “It’s pretty obvious to those who keep an open mind.” | |
Then he warns that other countries are laughing at the USA: | |
At what point does America get demeaned. At what point does America get laughed at as a country. | |
“I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” Trump says. | |
8.51pm BST | |
20:51 | |
The fact that the Paris deal hamstrings the United States while empowering some of the world’s top polluting countries should expel any doubt as to why foreign lobbyists should wish to keep our beautiful country tied up and bound down... that’s not going to happen while I’m president, I’m sorry. | |
– Donald Trump | |
8.49pm BST | |
20:49 | |
Reactions, cont'd | |
Sabrina Siddiqui | |
Tom Steyer, the environmental activist and Democratic mega-donor, vowed retribution for Trump’s action. | |
“The Trump Administration has just committed assault and battery on the future of the American people,” Steyer, who serves as the president of the advocacy group NextGen Climate, said in a statement. | |
“By pulling out of the Paris Agreement, Donald Trump is betraying the moral, political, and economic leadership position America has achieved over centuries at the cost of American lives. Yet the voice of the people remains the most powerful force in the land, and we will be heard.” | |
Brian Deese, a former senior adviser to Barack Obama who led the previous administration’s efforts on climate, said Trump’s decision marked a retreat from “a total global consensus” on the need to combat global warming. | |
“The diplomatic blowback will be significant,” he said, while pointing to the widespread support for the Paris accord among every one of America’s key allies. | |
“Diplomacy is a give and take,” Deese added. | |
“The next time the United States is looking for partnership, a lot of these countries will legitimately say when it came to an issue we cared about, you weren’t there for us.” And that’s a meaningful thing.” | |
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer described Trump’s decision as “a devastating failure of historic proportions.” | |
“Future generations will look back on President Trump’s decision as one of the worst policy moves made in the 21st century because of the huge damage to our economy, our environment and our geopolitical standing,” Schumer said in a statement. | |
“Pulling out of the Paris agreement doesn’t put America first, it puts America last in recognizing science, in being a world leader and protecting our own shore line, our economy and our planet,” he added. “It’s now crystal clear President Trump is comfortable both ceding the moral high ground and the economic upper hand to countries like China, and endangering the future of our planet.” | |
Updated | |
at 8.50pm BST | |
8.47pm BST | |
20:47 | |
Trump portrays Paris deal as economic catastrophe for US | |
Trump calls the Paris deal a “self-inflicted major economic wound.” There’s no indication that’s the case, but likewise nothing stopping him from saying it. | |
Trump is making out the Paris deal, which hadn’t dug in in the US’ energy policy yet when he was elected, to be the source of a made-up US economic catastrophe and hemorrhaging of jobs and GDP. | |
“The agreement is a massive redistribution of United States wealth to other countries,” Trump says. | |
Again, a wild claim, wildly unfounded from the president. He says “we’ll be at grave risk of brownouts and blackouts, our businesses will come to a halt in many cases” under the Paris deal. | |
8.44pm BST | |
20:44 | |
The Paris accord “is very unfair at the highest level to the United States,” Trump says. | |
Trump says the agreement blocks the development of clean coal. “And the mines are starting to open up. We’re having a big opening,” he says. | |
Then he says Paris would have outlawed US coal but allowed China and Indian coal. | |
“In short the agreement doesn’t eliminate coal jobs, it just transfers those jobs out of the United States.” Coal jobs, and the role of coal in US energy production, were long gone before the Paris deal. | |
8.42pm BST | |
20:42 | |
Trump says the Paris deal would cost the US economy $3tn in lost GDP. | |
Then Trump says he’s backing out of the deal owing to his environmental conscience: | |
As someone who cares deeply about the environment, as I do, I cannot in good conscience support a deal which harms the United States, which it does. | |
8.39pm BST | |
20:39 | |
Obama: 'States, cities, and businesses will step up' | |
Statement from Barack Obama on the Paris Climate Agreement pic.twitter.com/SQc6kQV0Ah | |
Updated | |
at 8.45pm BST | |
8.37pm BST | |
20:37 | |
Trump on Paris: 'We're getting out' | |
Trump says that “one-by-one” he’s keeping the promises he made in his presidential campaign. | |
“Believe me, we’ve just begun,” he says. “The fruits of our labor will be seen very shortly.” | |
“I don’t want anything to get in our way,” he says. “Therefore, in order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect America... the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord.” | |
Trump fans in the crowd clap. “Thank you,” he says. | |
“But begin negotiations to reenter either the Paris accord or an entirely new transaction on terms that are fair to the United States... | |
“So we’re getting out but we’ll start to negotiate and we’ll see if we can make a deal that’s fair.’ | |
Updated | |
at 8.45pm BST | |
8.34pm BST | |
20:34 | |
Donald Trump arrives. He says he’s monitoring an attack at a casino in Manila. Then he says he made “a very very successful trip” abroad, “believe me.” He says he is creating American jobs. | |
Updated | |
at 8.35pm BST | |
8.32pm BST | |
20:32 | |
Pence: | |
“The American people ... will see once again, our president is choosing to put American jobs and American consumers first... and choosing to put America’s forgotten men and women first.” | |
8.31pm BST | |
20:31 | |
Pence: 'America is back' | |
Pence welcomes everyone. “You know it’s the greatest privilege of my life to serve as vice president to a president who is fighting every day to make America great again,” Pence says. | |
“And this president has been rolling back excessive regulations and unfair trade practices that were stifling American jobs,” he says. | |
“Thanks to president Donald Trump, America is back.” | |
8.30pm BST | |
20:30 | |
The live stream is active. Vice president Mike Pence has come out. | |
8.29pm BST | |
20:29 | |
Further reaction | |
Jacqueline Savitz, executive with Oceana: | |
President Trump’s decision regarding the Paris Agreement on climate action spells trouble for the world’s oceans -- and for humanity. The oceans have already absorbed massive amounts of heat and carbon dioxide, causing ocean waters to become more acidic. This is bad news for corals, molluscs like clams and oysters, and arthropods like lobsters and crabs. That means not only ecological devastation but a hit to our seafood economy. | |
Coastal communities and ecosystems around the world are threatened with seas that are rising because of the expansion of warmed waters and the melting of ancient ice caps. Disruption of ocean food chains could increase the risk of hunger for the millions of people around the world who depend on ocean fish for their food and livelihood. | |
Kierán Suckling, executive director, Center for Biological Diversity: | |
Trump just confirmed his total contempt for our planet’s future. With this reckless rejection of international climate cooperation, the administration took a giant step toward turning our country into a rogue nation. Most Americans want global action against global warming, but Trump’s foreign policy seems aimed strictly at appeasing coal companies and the oil industry.” | |
8.27pm BST | |
20:27 | |
Sanders calls move 'an international disgrace' | |
No, Trump has not spoken yet, but the reactions are flooding in. | |
Senator Bernie Sanders: ‘an international disgrace’ | |
President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement is an abdication of American leadership and an international disgrace. At this moment, when climate change is already causing devastating harm around the world, we do not have the moral right to turn our backs on efforts to preserve this planet for future generations. | |
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse: ‘betraying the country’ | |
Trump is betraying the country, in the service of Breitbart fake news, the shameless fossil fuel industry, and the Koch brothers’ climate denial operation. It’s sad. | |
Erich Pica, president, Friends of the Earth US: | |
Today, Donald Trump turned the fate of the planet into a reality T.V. show hosted live from the White House Rose Garden. Trump’s grand reveal surprised no one; once again, he elevated Big Oil over our environment and the well-being of humanity. | |
History will harshly judge the Trump Administration’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement. By denying climate change and failing to act, Trump has put us on a path beset with increased famine, poverty, disease and death for millions of people in the U.S. and across the globe. | |
Jason Grumet, president, Bipartisan Policy Center: | |
Withdrawing from the Paris agreement will needlessly undermine U.S. relations with our allies and undercut international efforts to address climate change. Nearly 200 other nations will move forward with this agreement regardless of our participation. By exiting the process, President Trump forfeits America’s opportunity to shape the global economic transition that is already underway | |
8.23pm BST | 8.23pm BST |
20:23 | 20:23 |
The American Civil Liberties Union calls today’s move by Trump “a massive step back for racial justice”: | The American Civil Liberties Union calls today’s move by Trump “a massive step back for racial justice”: |
Pulling out of the Paris Agreement would be a massive step back for racial justice, and an assault on communities of color across the U.S. | Pulling out of the Paris Agreement would be a massive step back for racial justice, and an assault on communities of color across the U.S. |
8.21pm BST | 8.21pm BST |
20:21 | 20:21 |
Here’s that live stream again. So you have it handy: | Here’s that live stream again. So you have it handy: |
.@realdonaldtrump late to the planet's own funeral – live #actonclimate https://t.co/OWSCHfTtQe | .@realdonaldtrump late to the planet's own funeral – live #actonclimate https://t.co/OWSCHfTtQe |
Updated | Updated |
at 8.22pm BST | at 8.22pm BST |