White House: Why President Trump’s decision to withdraw from Paris agreement is good for America

NTD Staff
By NTD Staff
June 1, 2017Politics
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White House: Why President Trump’s decision to withdraw from Paris agreement is good for America
US President Donald Trump addresses US military personnel and families at Naval Air Station Sigonella after G7 summit of Heads of State and Government, on May 27, 2017 near Taormina in Sicily. / AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

President Trump announced that the United States would be withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord on June 1.

He faced attacks on all fronts for making this decision—from environmental groups to other nation leaders. However, the president’s move to abandon the pact is not without basis. There may be concrete benefits for the United States to withdraw from the agreement or renegotiating it.

The White House subsequently issued a press release with statistics and information to backup the president’s decision.

It stated the United States had already cut carbon emissions before the agreement was signed, and that the agreement would harm the American economy while allowing other countries to reap benefits. In addition, following the terms of the agreement would have minimal affect on the environment.

U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions have significantly declined since before the Paris Climate Accord was negotiated.

From 2005 to 2016, energy-related carbon dioxide emissions fell at an average annual rate of 1.4 percent, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) 2017 Annual Energy Outlook report.

Emissions are projected to continue to fall from 2016 to 2040.

Meanwhile, the EIA reports that emissions in the developing world are expected to double their 2005 levels by 2040. Those include countries such as India and China.

At the same time, the United States remained the world’s top producer of oil and natural gas combined, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The document continues to state that increased competition from countries like China demonstrates the need for policies that enable America to compete on a global scale.

The Paris Climate Accord could cost the U.S. economy millions of jobs and trillions of dollars in economic output over the next several decades.

According to an analysis by National Economic Research Associates (NERA), meeting President Obama’s commitment under the Paris Climate Accord would cost the United States nearly $3 trillion by 2040.

By 2040, the American economy could have 6.5 million fewer industrial sector jobs, including 3.1 million fewer manufacturing jobs.

Industries such as cement, iron and steel, coal, natural gas, and petroleum would be forced to cut production under President Obama’s Paris Climate Accord.

Under the Paris Climate Accord, the press release states, the United States would carry the burden while other countries would get the benefits.

It said the agreement was signed without having to deal with the economic repercussions, the United States was committed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by between 26 and 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025.

Meanwhile China can continue to increase emissions for the next 13 years.

Furthermore, according to researchers from MIT, if every nation that signed the Paris Climate Accord met all of their commitments until the end of the century, the impact on the climate would be negligible.

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