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| Vice President Mike Pence says climate change is just an issue for the left | Vice President Mike Pence says climate change is just an issue for the left |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Vice President Mike Pence has said "for some reason, this issue of climate change has emerged as a paramount issue for the left," in an interview on the Fox and Friends television programme. | Vice President Mike Pence has said "for some reason, this issue of climate change has emerged as a paramount issue for the left," in an interview on the Fox and Friends television programme. |
| The comment comes one day after Donald Trump announced he was withdrawing the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change, signed by nearly 200 countries in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tackle global warming. | The comment comes one day after Donald Trump announced he was withdrawing the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change, signed by nearly 200 countries in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tackle global warming. |
| The move was met with criticism from the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, and former President Obama, who put the deal into force for the US through an executive order so he could bypass climate sceptics in Congress. | The move was met with criticism from the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, and former President Obama, who put the deal into force for the US through an executive order so he could bypass climate sceptics in Congress. |
| Mr Pence echoed the President's comments on the administration's "America First" doctrine. | Mr Pence echoed the President's comments on the administration's "America First" doctrine. |
| "We've demonstrated real leadership and real progress" on emissions reductions and environment, Mr Pence said. | |
| However, Mr Trump's proposed federal budget calls for a slashing of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget by nearly 30 per cent and includes cuts to other agencies doing work on climate change like the ocean preservation activities of the US Coast Guard and climate diplomacy at the State Department. | |
| The Vice President said the US had to leave the Paris accord and renegotiate it because it "put a real burden...on our people" and American workers. In his announcement at the White House, Mr Trump repeated his campaign promise: to bring back the US coal industry and manufacturing jobs for American workers. | |
| Coal industry jobs have actually been in a steady decline since even before the 1970s due to jobs re-training programmes, changing local economies, and a focus on cleaner energy alternatives. New money in the renewable energy sector outpaced new investments in the oil and gas industry for the first time in 2015 - to the tune of $350bn. | |
| Several business leaders including the heads of Shell and BP as well as former Exxon Mobil CEO and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson all urged Mr Trump to stay in the Paris Agreement. | |
| Mr Pence did not confirm if the President, in fact, even believes in climate change. EPA chief Scott Pruitt refused to make a statement on the matter as well, though Mr Pruitt has claimed that human activity does not have an impact on the climate. | |
| Mr Pence was steadfast in his belief that withdrawing from the climate deal would be good for the US economy and job creation. | |
| It is "so refreshing to have a President who stands without apology...for America first," Mr Pence said. |