A Trump Presidency and Climate Change

After the surprising election outcome on Tuesday, some may be wondering what impact a Trump presidency will have on the environment. Throughout his campaign, the now president-elect often referred to climate change as a hoax, and promised to abandon the Paris climate agreement, in which 200 countries around the world pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Christopher Joyce, Trump Has a Chance to Pull U.S. Out of Climate Accord, www.npr.org, (Nov. 10, 2016).

Since President Obama voluntarily signed the Paris climate pledge, it would not be difficult for Trump to eliminate the United States involvement in the agreement. Id. Jason Bordoff, the former White House energy advisor states, “If a country wants to just walk away from its obligations, there’s little recourse for the rest of the world other than diplomatic pressure.” Id.

Bordoff also explained that if the U.S. abandons the agreement fewer countries would take an ambitious approach to follow the agreed upon terms. Id. The Paris agreement is also dependent on industrialized countries to fund efforts so developing countries can partake in the agreement. Id. Therefore, if Trump decides to remove the U.S. from the pledge he could be compromising the entire agreement. Id.

 

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/11/10/501481492/trump-has-a-chance-to-pull-u-s-out-of-climate-accord