Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced yesterday that the United States has given official notice of its withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement.
The Cornwall Alliance has advocated for this ever since President Donald Trump took office and considers it a great win for common sense, good science, good economics, and good politics.
Full implementation of the Paris agreement through the end of the century would cost $70 to $140 trillion and would reduce global average surface temperature by no more than 0.3˚F—too little to affect any ecosystem or human wellbeing.
Meanwhile, U.S. commitments under the agreement, made by the Obama administration but never submitted to the Senate for ratification, would have imposed massive costs on American taxpayers that would not be proportionally shared by other nations.
Pompeo’s announcement was in a press statement issued November 4, 2019, and reads as follows:
Today the United States began the process to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Per the terms of the Agreement, the United States submitted formal notification of its withdrawal to the United Nations. The withdrawal will take effect one year from delivery of the notification.
As noted in his June 1, 2017 remarks, President Trump made the decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement because of the unfair economic burden imposed on American workers, businesses, and taxpayers by U.S. pledges made under the Agreement. The United States has reduced all types of emissions, even as we grow our economy and ensure our citizens’ access to affordable energy. Our results speak for themselves: U.S. emissions of criteria air pollutants that impact human health and the environment declined by 74% between 1970 and 2018. U.S. net greenhouse gas emissions dropped 13% from 2005-2017, even as our economy grew over 19 percent.
The U.S. approach incorporates the reality of the global energy mix and uses all energy sources and technologies cleanly and efficiently, including fossils fuels, nuclear energy, and renewable energy. In international climate discussions, we will continue to offer a realistic and pragmatic model – backed by a record of real world results – showing innovation and open markets lead to greater prosperity, fewer emissions, and more secure sources of energy. We will continue to work with our global partners to enhance resilience to the impacts of climate change and prepare for and respond to natural disasters. Just as we have in the past, the United States will continue to research, innovate, and grow our economy while reducing emissions and extending a helping hand to our friends and partners around the globe.
Photo by Chris Karidis on Unsplash.
Janice Shay says
I was raised in a Christian school. From kindergarten on, we were taught from the Bible about Creation, the absolute order that the Lord keeps but at the same time the fallen state of the world due to sin and man’s sinfulness and that someday the Lord would restore the earth, creating a new earth and heavens. We were taught the Bible stories including the great Flood and how afterwards the Lord promised that as long as the earth remains, there would be seed time and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and that there would always be day and night. And He set the order of caring for the earth and what to eat, then gave His rainbow as an everlasting covenant between Himself and man, and that never again would a flood destroy the earth. This was from Genesis 8 and 9. It has always seemed so simple. I believe.
louis wachsmuth says
More than 11,000 scientists from around the world declare a ‘climate emergency’
Study outlines six major steps that ‘must’ be taken to address the situation. By Andrew Freedman Washington Post November 5, 2019 at 7:18 a.m. PST A new study by 11,258 scientists in 153 countries from a broad range of disciplines warns that the planet “clearly and unequivocally faces a climate emergency,” and provides six broad policy goals that must be met to address it.
The study, called the “World scientists’ warning of a climate emergency,” marks the first time a large group of scientists has formally come out in favor of labeling climate change an “emergency,” which the study notes is caused by many human trends that are together increasing greenhouse gas emissions.
The paper bases its conclusions on a set of easy-to-understand indicators that show the human influence on climate, such as 40 years of greenhouse gas emissions, economic trends, population growth rates, per capita meat production, and global tree cover loss, as well as consequences, such as global temperature trends and ocean heat content.
“This is a document that establishes a clear record of the broad consensus among most scientists active at this point in history that the climate crisis is real, and is a major, even existential, threat to human societies, human well-being, and biodiversity,” said Jesse Bellemare, an associate professor of biology at Smith College who is a signatory of the study’s emergency declaration.
OKAY CORNWALL, EXPLAIN THIS CURRENT NEWS, “FAKE”?
E. Calvin Beisner says
The “Alliance of World Scientists” was anything but, and the whole thing was basically a fraud. See https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/nov/11/alliance-world-scientists-climate-emergency-declar/ and https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/11/11000-scientists-just-kidding.php and https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=Vs3ZPGLPiss&feature=emb_logo.
Charles Johnston says
Consensus is not science and 30,000 scientists say AGW is a hoax for money and power. Guess those alarmed by a climate behaving as it has for millions of years should read a little actual history. There is no emergency, except in the projected earnings of those dependent on the lies. The planet has been much warmer (AKA The Medieval Warm Period) as well as much colder (AKA the little ice age) in HISTORIC times. Intellectual laziness is no virtue, but it is highly prized by the hundreds of thousands making a living off the hoax of the century- keeps the sheeple in line.
E. Calvin Beisner says
Right, Charles. And see the links in my reply to Lou.