President Trump Planning to Abandon Paris Climate Accord: Reports

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

President Donald Trump has said he’ll be providing his thoughts on the Paris climate deal in the coming days, but media outlets are already suggesting his take on the issue will be to leave it. Sources are claiming the president’s mind is made up and, to the surprise of no one, odds are good he will withdraw the U.S. from the deal.

Trump has already made it his mission to overturn as many Obama-related policies as possible and seems unconcerned with environmental issues that might stand in the way of potential manufacturing opportunities. Since taking office, Trump has been pushing regulators to rethink the United States’ auto emission guidelines, undoing one of the previous administration’s final acts in office.

Pulling out of the Paris accord would fulfill a campaign promise and negate the need for the U.S. to adhere to rigid emission standards — at the expense of further alienating the president from Europe’s leadership.

However, countries are not bound by an outside panel. The accord allows the 195 participating nations — 147 who have ratified — to set their own limits, under the assumption they will all make continued efforts to limit the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by human activities to a level nature can manage between 2050 and 2100.

It also places a strong emphasis on helping developing nations achieve their goals, something a protectionist politician may not care for. Trump has also been very clear on how he does not want regulatory interference handicapping manufacturing, especially as it relates to the automotive industry.

Unnamed senior officials familiar with his plan told CNN, Axios, and several other media outlets that the president’s mind is essentially settled on the matter. That assumption was further bolstered when he updated his favorite social media platform.

“I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump tweeted on Wednesday. The slogan has become the president’s biggest tell, synonymous with undoing currently existing policies. If he says he’s about to make America great again, then you can rest assured he’s seriously considering rolling something back.

Then again, this came hours after his infamous and perplexing “Despite the constant negative press covfefe” tweet, something I have yet to decrypt. Considering the mystique deposited by those six words, perhaps Twitter is not the best dais for unraveling the president’s intentions.

If he does decide to pull out of the accord, he’ll have a few options on how to do it. The agreement stipulates a three-year waiting period before a country can give notice of leaving, which results in a June 2021 exit. Trump could abandon the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which would only take one year (but at the risk of massive political fallout). Alternatively, he could claim the agreement is a treaty requiring approval by the Senate and allow the Republican majority to do the work for him.

On Tuesday, Trump convened with Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt, who opposes the Paris deal. Today, he is scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — who strongly supports it. While the majority of auto industry leaders have not publicly expressed their opinions, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made it clear he is attempting to convince the president to keep the U.S. in the Paris accord. Musk also said he will withdraw from President Trump’s CEO council if the U.S. withdraws from the climate agreement.

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Dan Dan on Jun 02, 2017

    Paris, wherein Obama agreed to gut US industry in exchange for the five billion people in the developing world agreeing to keep developing exactly as they already were. It's hard to say whether climate believers or climate deniers should have been more disgusted with the result. I'm delighted to see this in the trash where it belongs.

  • Jacob Jacob on Jun 03, 2017

    Wow. A Trump-related politics discussion is surprisingly civilized. This speaks volumes of TTAC readers, in a good way.

  • Kwik_Shift Hyunkia'sis doing what they do best...subverting expectations of quality.
  • MaintenanceCosts People who don't use the parking brake when they walk away from the car deserve to have the car roll into a river.
  • 3-On-The-Tree I’m sure they are good vehicles but you can’t base that on who is buying them. Land Rovers, Bentley’ are bought by Robin Leaches’s “The Rich and Famous” but they have terrible reliability.
  • SCE to AUX The fix sounds like a bandaid. Kia's not going to address the defective shaft assemblies because it's hard and expensive - not cool.
  • Analoggrotto I am sick and tired of every little Hyundai Kia Genesis flaw being blown out of proportion. Why doesn't TTAC talk about the Tundra iForce Max problems, Toyota V35A engine problems or the Lexus 500H Hybrid problems? Here's why: education. Most of America is illiterate, as are the people who bash Hyundai Kia Genesis. Surveys conducted by credible sources have observed a high concentration of Hyundai Kia Genesis models at elite ivy league universities, you know those places where students earn degrees which earn more than $100K per year? Get with the program TTAC.
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