Trump’s Threat to Pull Out from Paris Climate Agreement Causes Serious Congressional Concern

Congressional concern brews over walking away from the Paris Climate Agreement. – Courtesy photo

Recently, it was reported that Donald Trump was preparing to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement. The Paris Climate Agreement, adopted in December 2015 and signed by the U.S. in April 2016, is an historic agreement between 195 countries to keep climate change below 2 degrees Celsius. Under the agreement, it is up to each country to set and meet their own goals. Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27) released the following statement:

“Walking away from the Paris Climate Agreement signals that our nation is relinquishing our leadership role in safeguarding our planet. The decision to remove us from this critical agreement is a moral failing. The U.S. is one of the two largest carbon producers in the world. Our energy policies are contributing to rising ocean levels, more violent storms, and shrinking resources. And the pain of these changes is largely born by the poorest, here in our own country and globally. In fact, our own Pentagon has warned that if we don’t own our actions today, we will own the consequences tomorrow. That includes waves of climate refugees and resource wars.”

“This can be avoided by meeting our responsibility to ourselves and the world, staying in the Paris Agreement, and supporting investments in new technologies and policies that reduce emissions. This is the future, and I urge President Trump to help usher us into it by maintaining our support for the internationally accepted Paris Climate Agreement.”

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