Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Trump’s likely decision to withdraw from the Paris climate deal poses a grave threat to the planet’s future.
“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,” she said.
“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,” Pelosi said in a statement.
The Paris Accord honours the collective moral responsibility to leave future generations with a planet that is clean, healthy and sustainable, she noted.
The agreement signed by 195 countries deploys the full force of governments around the world to halt the rise in carbon emissions that cause extreme climate events, including record droughts, horrific famines and devastating floods, in addition to thousands of deaths each year from asthma attacks and other air pollution-related diseases, she said.
“Rejecting the pact also sends a strong message to the marketplace to direct innovative, entrepreneurial investments in the clean energy economy elsewhere,” Pelosi said.
“The majority of Americans in both parties know that climate change is real, and want clear, decisive action to arrest its dire effects. Democrats will continue to support the strong action of states, cities and the private sector to halt the march of climate change, no matter how destructive and short-sighted the decisions of this Administration continue to be,” Pelosi said.
Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez said not only did the Trump’s decision fly in the face of scientific consensus about the impacts of climate change, it also defied the wishes of the business community, international allies, and religious leaders, including the Pope Francis.
“Withdrawing from the Paris agreement would be a global embarrassment and a gross abdication of American leadership.
President Trump should know that he can’t stop a drought with a wall,” Perez said.
“He can’t ban hurricanes from entering the country. He can’t threaten a real storm with a Tweetstorm. He can’t dismiss rising tides and temperatures as fake news. And no matter how hard he might try, he can’t negotiate with Mother Nature for a better deal,” he said.
