How Can The Paris Climate Agreement Be "More Favorable To The U.S."???

Of all of the misleading statements from our new President over the last nine months, the top ranked is that withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement is necessary until a 'renegotiation' can occur which is more favorable to the United States.   This is a true lie of unimaginable magnitude.  Why you might ask?  Simple: The greenhouse gas reductions are set by each nation and then evaluated at various time intervals into the future.  Also, this has real world consequences -- some of which I wrote about in previous blogs - here and here.  I was reminded of the consequences this morning when I received the following from the daily "Politico Energy" - in my e-mail box regarding the U.S. stance on the Paris Climate Agreement:

PARIS POSITION AS CLEAR AS MUD: A weekend full of conflicting signals and mixed messages culminated with President Donald Trump's administration reiterating its intention to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement "unless we can re-enter on terms that are more favorable to our country." Confusion first emerged Saturday when Everett Eissenstat, the No. 2 official on the National Economic Council, made comments at a Montreal meeting that some diplomats interpreted as signaling the U.S. might remain in the international deal while revising Obama's climate pledge. But White House and international officials told POLITICO's Nancy Cook, Andrew Restuccia and Kalina Oroschakoff those comments were misconstrued. "This is being misreported. Unhelpfully so I think," a non-U.S. attendee of the meeting said of the comments.

Administration officials stressed that view Sunday. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster called The Wall Street Journal's original report on Saturday that the U.S. was considering remaining in the Paris agreement a "false report" on "Fox News Sunday," POLITICO's Theodoric Meyer reports. But Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was less adamant on CBS' " Face the Nation ," saying there was a possibility the Trump administration could stick with it if they can negotiate what they deem a better deal: "The president said he is open to finding those conditions where we can remain engaged with others on what we all agree is still a challenging issue," he said. "The plan is for [National Economic Council] Director [Gary] Cohn to consider other ways in which we can work with partners in the Paris climate accord. We want to be productive, we want to be helpful."

It's worth noting: Italy, France and Germany have said the underlying framework of the Paris agreement won't be renegotiated, but multiple experts have said the U.S. could weaken its voluntary emissions reduction pledge - nationally determined contribution in diplomatic parlance - whenever it wants. Or in the words of Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy : "Dear White House, READ THE AGREEMENT. It already allows each country to set their own terms of compliance. So we good? Back in?"

Again, what amazes me after reading the excerpt above is that our President does not realize that the mandates of the Paris Climate Agreement allow for failure (i.e. not reaching reduction goals).  What more is there to say?  This is a great agreement.  To start, the agreement establishes agreement with (between) nearly 200 nations.  Further, the climate agreement is just one aspect of the agreement between nations.  At this point, you may be wondering the following questions:


Who is leading the effort to either misinform the President and his cabinet on the Paris Agreement?


Why is there a lack of education on the matter within the cabinet of the White House?


What part of "no reduction limits" does the President not understand?


What part of 're-assess' targets and efforts after 4 years does the President not understand?



Clearly, the objective of the Paris Agreement is to get all nations on board.  Each can set their own limit.  Furthermore, each can fail to meet their own limits.  How can the President and his cabinet not understand this simple concept?  The Secretary of State Rex Tillerson still believes that the agreement needs to be renegotiated as shown in the excerpt below from a transcript of an interview on CBS on Sunday on 'Face The Nation':

REX TILLERSON (Secretary of State): Well, the position is being led and developed by Gary Cohn over at the National Economic Council. And I think, if you recall, the President also said, look, we are willing to work with partners in the Paris climate accord if we can construct a set of terms that we believe is fair and balanced for the American people and recognizes our economy-- our economy, our economic interest relative to others, in particular, the second largest economy in the world, China. If you look at those targets and terms of the Paris climate accord, they were just really out of balance for the two largest economies. So I think the plan is for director Cohn to consider other ways in which we can work with partners in the Paris climate accord. We want to be productive, we want to be helpful. The U.S. has actually has a tremendous track record on reducing our own greenhouse gas emissions.

JOHN DICKERSON: So there's a chance that-- that if things get worked out both on the voluntary side from the U.S., voluntary restrictions for the U.S. that it could change, but then also with China-- there's a chance the U.S. could stay in the accord, is that right?

REX TILLERSON: I think under the right conditions, the President said he's open to finding those conditions where we can remain engaged with others on what we all agree is still a challenging issue.

What??  The excerpts above show that neither the President or his cabinet members have an understanding of international agreements.  Unfortunately, their lack of political experience is clearly visible by their lack of understanding how to play on the political playing field.  Back in July after President Trump announced that the U.S. would withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, the President of the European Commission gave his assessment of President Trump's announcement in the blog post I wrote - which can be found here.



Given the present announcements over the weekend along with the past blog posts and other compelling evidence, clearly the President has little understanding of how to run the country on the international stage.  Over time, his lack of understanding only deepens which threatens the position of the United States in future negotiations on issues tied to Paris Climate Agreement such as refugees, immigration, renewable energy investments, etc.  These issues are all tied to national security as well.



Conclusion...



Given the current lack of understanding on part of our President on matters important to our nation, we should celebrate the few that still stand for change in a positive direction.  Governor Jerry Brown (California) along with others made commitments to keep certain states in the United States up to the challenge of the Paris Climate Agreement.  I wrote a blog post which also contains the 'Memorandum of Understanding' which California reached with China on the Paris Climate Agreement.  Further, President Trump has had ample opportunity (including at Hamburg, Germany) to discuss more regarding the Paris Climate Agreement.  Read here about that possibility in July.




Going forward, the governors and other state officials will be tasked with leading the efforts of the United States moving forward into the next revolution with renewable energy.  Already, as has been shown, the coal industry is dying out.  Renewable energy is growing at an exponential rate with international investments which are astounding.  Now is the time to accept and join the international effort to change toward a renewable energy future which protects the planet and its inhabitants moving into the future.