Trump to Withdraw the United States From the Paris Agreement Climate Pact Again
President Trump will formally withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement climate pact shortly after taking office. His transition team is working on executive orders and other actions to finally formalize the withdrawal.
Trump has criticized the Paris Agreement for its double standards that allow some countries to voluntarily control their emissions (or ignore them altogether) while holding the United States and some other countries to a higher standard.
Trump pulled the United States from the Paris Agreement during his first term but Biden reversed the move, returning the United States to the global climatic pact. During his campaign, Trump promised to withdraw from the Paris Agreement yet again.
Withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement will allow the President to authorize drilling and mining on western lands to reinstate the United States’ global energy leadership. The President-elect promised to reduce energy prices by 50% within the first year through extensive drilling. He also promised to reverse the Inflation Reduction Act which penalizes gas and oil facilities for methane emissions.
Trump’s potential Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief pick Rep. Lee Zeldin is a staunch proponent of swift deregulation to step up gas and oil exploration and drilling in line with Trump’s America First agenda.
The withdrawal will also allow Trump to redraw the boundaries of federally reserved lands in southern Utah which were created during the Obama administration.
The expansion of usable/drillable land will affect the Bears Ears National Monument which sits on 1.36 million acres and Grand Staircase-Escalante which rests on 1.87 million acres of land.
Several abandoned oil and gas wells and Uranium are within the national reserve. The last time drilling occurred in the areas was in 1984 and extraction ended in 1992 when it was no longer economically viable.
During his first term, Trump reduced the size of the Bears Ears reservation by 85% and Grand Staircase-Escalante by 47%. However, Biden reversed the decision and increased the size of the reservation.
Trump also plans to relocate EPA headquarters from Washington, D.C. The relocation is part of Trump’s effort to purge bureaucrats who have influenced policies in Washington for decades. EPA’s over 7,000 employees will be among over 100,000 federal employees to be affected when Trump relocates various government agencies from Washington.
EPA bureaucrats are already discussing the potential impacts of relocating, with some considering other options.
“I would say there is a general feeling of dread among everyone,” an EPA employee told CNN.
“We are absolutely having conversations among ourselves about whether we can stomach a round two,” another said.
When Trump relocated the Bureau of Land Management to Colorado, 80% of the 300 employees remained in Washington. Subsequently, relocation and mass quitting will allow Trump to replace thousands of EPA bureaucrats who might not necessarily support his environmental policies.
Besides the United States, other countries are also reconsidering their Paris Agreement membership. Argentinian President Javier Milei reportedly met with Trump to chart the way forward out of the global climate deal. The South American country has already withdrawn its delegates from the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26).
“We’re reevaluating our strategy on all matters related to climate change,” Argentina’s foreign minister, Gerardo Werthein, told The New York Times.
Interestingly, Russia and Saudi Arabia, which benefit heavily from high gas and oil prices, have urged Trump not to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. China has also requested Trump to continue the cooperation between the two countries on climate change.
Since the U.S. carries much of the burden, its withdrawal risks collapsing the Paris Agreement climate pact.
