ABC News(WASHINGTON) — President Trump’s likely decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord has been condemned by environmentalists, who view the deal as critical to the health and survival of our planet, and praised by some conservatives, who viewed President Obama’s entry into the pact as an overreach of authority.
An official who spoke to ABC News about Trump’s likely decision cautioned that nothing is final until the president announces it, and that the White House is now working out a way to roll out and explain the reasons behind his decision.
If Trump does pull out of the 2015 Paris accord on climate change, the United States would become one of only three nations in a U.N. climate group not to be signed onto the deal.
The December 2015 deal has as of this month been signed by all 197 countries in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) except two: Syria and Nicaragua. Of the 195 that have signed, 147 have ratified the accord.
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., wrote on Twitter that the likely decision would hurt America’s standing in the world.
“Pulling out of #ParisAgreement is a massive moral, economic & leadership failure for Trump admin. Loss of business, jobs, & intl standing,” Markey wrote.
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released a statement condemning the potential move, one which she said favors big energy over the environment and allows other countries to take the lead.
“President Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Accord is a stunning abdication of American leadership and a grave threat to our planet’s future,” Pelosi wrote. “In walking away from this agreement, the President is denying scientific truths, removing safeguards that protect our health and our environment, protecting polluters and their dirty energy agenda, and threatening our national and global security.”
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, wrote that Trump was correcting former President Obama’s course, which it said “displayed contempt for the role of Congress and the democratic process in treaty making.”
Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, a prominent environmental advocacy group, released a statement saying that “our grandchildren will look back on with stunned dismay at how a world leader could be so divorced from reality and morality” in response to Trump’s likely decision.
“This is a decision that will cede America’s role internationally to nations like China and India, which will benefit handsomely from embracing the booming clean energy economy while Trump seeks to drive our country back into the 19th century,” Brune wrote.
Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental law advocacy group, called the likelihood of Trump’s decision a wrong turn.
“If true, it is a reckless and foolish mistake, and our kids will pay the price,” Suh wrote on Twitter.
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