The Climate Council condemns US President Donald Trump’s moves towards withdrawing from the historic international Paris Climate Agreement.
“The US is positioning itself as an international pariah. Out of nearly 200 countries only three have rejected the Paris Climate Agreement. Nicaragua, because it didn’t go far enough. Syria, which is in civil war. And, now, the US looks set to withdraw. No other countries show signs of backtracking from their commitments,” said Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie.
“If Trump withdraws it will damage US interests, with China and the EU already stating that they will work even more closely on climate change and are already considering imposing a carbon tax on US imports.“No matter how ideologically driven Trump is, he cannot stop the global tidal wave of investment in clean energy. Trump can’t beat economics. Renewables are cheaper than new coal and continue to drop in cost. The future is renewable power regardless of the US isolating itself from global action.
“If Trump withdraws, the move will be met with a collective shaking of heads from State and city leaders across the US who have been leading the way on clean energy world wide and want to further capitalise on the benefits. States and cities as diverse as Texas, California, Las Vegas and New York will continue to aggressively drive climate action in the absence of Federal action.
“California, the 8th largest economy in the world, is leading the way, with Governor Jerry Brown emphasising that the State will not let Trump’s decision harm their progress on clean energy.
“The US is one of the world’s largest polluters. It is abundantly clear that it is in Australia’s national interest that global pollution be reduced, including from the US. Extreme ocean temperatures have caused back-to-back bleaching on 1500km of the Great Barrier Reef causing significant damage. The US failing to do its part should be condemned by the Australian government.
“Like an important trade policy, like whaling, like any international agreement that is important for Australia’s interests the Australian government should assert our interests. We would do this with China, Japan or Indonesia, why not the US?” said Ms McKenzie.
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