Trey Pollard trey.pollard@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, Donald Trump refrained from signing onto consensus language with the United States’ closest allies in support of the Paris Climate Agreement and tweeted that a decision on support of the Agreement would come next week..
The Paris Climate Agreement has been formally joined by over 140 nations, and participation in the Agreement is supported by nearly 70 percent of Americans nationwide and by a majority in all 50 states. Regardless of the U.S.’s decision, other major emitters, including China and India, have repeatedly reaffirmed their commitments to the Paris Agreement and are prepared to assume global leadership in the fight to tackle the climate crisis.
In response, Sierra Club Global Climate Policy Director John Coequyt released the following statement:
“Donald Trump should have learned this week that breaking our commitments under the Paris Agreement would be an unmitigated disaster for the United States. This choice should not be hard: uphold the Paris Agreement to take climate action, grow the economy, and protect U.S. communities or break our commitments to turn his back on economic success, American leadership, and the future of every family in our nation. Trump can side with our closest allies, majorities of Americans in every state, faith leaders like the Pope, hundreds of businesses and investors, and nearly every single nation in the world or he can go with the reckless ideologues and most extreme fossil fuel hacks to put the profits of a few before the health of American families.
“There should be no question: the U.S. must fulfill its international commitments in full. Exploiting the flexibility of the Paris Agreement to reduce our commitment, or even pulling us out, would be a disaster for the United States, provoking international blowback, harming our global leadership role, and threatening the health and safety of all families in this country.”
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 2.7 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.