Carper Statement on President Trump’s Formal Withdrawal from the Paris Accord

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee and co-author of the International Climate Accountability Act, released the following statement after the Trump Administration announced that the United States will begin the formal process of withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, a pledge signed by nearly 200 nations to limit greenhouse gas emissions and combat global warming.

“Climate change is the greatest threat to our planet and it is confronting humanity with a crisis that can be solved only through concerted international efforts. But this president is not concerned with building coalitions—he is concerned with breaking whatever it is that President Obama and Vice President Biden built. By breaking America’s commitment to the Paris Accord, President Trump is reducing America’s standing in the world.

“Once again, President Trump is abandoning our global allies for the sake of misplaced political gain. Now America stands alone – nearly 200 countries have joined this global commitment to fighting climate change, even global pariahs like North Korea and civil war-torn countries like Syria. It should be lost on no one that the same president who believes climate change is a hoax created by the Chinese has actually set the stage for countries like China to fill the gaping hole left behind by the United States.

“The president is also abandoning the tremendous economic opportunity to create millions of clean energy jobs, along with the public health benefits that come with having cleaner air to breathe and a healthier planet to call home. While the rest of the world races toward the clean energy future, this administration is holding our economy hostage to the dirty fossil fuels of the past.

“It is shameful. It is cowardly when we need to be brave and act boldly. Long after the rest of us are gone, future generations will remember this president’s failure to lead on the greatest environmental challenge of our time.”

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