United States Going It Alone on Climate Change: What It Means

The Hill discusses President Trump’s trip to the G-20 summit in terms of energy policy with Chris Horner.

President Trump’s decision not to sign a Group of 20 declaration on climate change this weekend further isolated the United States on the issue.

Trump’s action — making the U.S. the only G-20 country not to support the Paris climate agreement or its underlying goals — further solidifies the White House’s embrace of the president’s “America First” campaign pledge.

But it also reinforces the degree to which Trump is willing to go it alone on the environment, a decision observers say will hurt the United States diplomatically and threaten the world’s efforts to rein in greenhouse gas emissions and confront climate change.

The G-20 declaration on climate change, issued during the first international summit since Trump’s June 1 decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris agreement, devoted an entire paragraph to the Trump administration’s position, including its plan to use fossil fuels “more cleanly and efficiently,” an addition that angered environmental activists.

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“I suspect the Merkel et al. crowd are stunned that President Trump didn’t agree to some softening of his position, after all of their acting out,” said Chris Horner, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and critic of the Paris agreement, in an email.

“Her post-event commentary suggests this is the case and that she still can’t get her head around it. All they got was their own words, and no indication from [Trump] that the resistance inside the White House and State [Department] has made any headway whatsoever.”

Read the full article at The Hill.