Thursday, June 1, 2017

Obama: Trump Administration Showing 'An Absence Of American Leadership' on Paris Accord


By Igor Bobic

Former President Barack Obama says President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement on combatting climate change means the U.S. will join “a small handful of nations that reject the future.”

The announcement, which is a setback to international efforts to curb global warming, will put the U.S. on the same page as Syria and Nicaragua ― the only nations not to have participated in the agreement. Others, including China, India, and the European Union, indicated they planned to forge ahead in the effort to fight climate change.

In a statement released Thursday, Obama suggested the task of fighting climate change now falls to states, cities and companies in the U.S. that stand to gain from high-tech, low-carbon investment and innovation.

“The nations that remain in the Paris Agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created,” he said. “I believe the United States of America should be at the front of the pack. But even in the absence of American leadership; even as this Administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; I’m confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet we’ve got.”

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Source: The Huffington Post

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