CEI Continues to Support President Trump’s Paris Climate Accord Decision
President Trump left for Europe on Monday ahead of the G-20 Summit convening later this week in Hamburg, Germany. Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord and U.S. climate change policy, are expected to be a big part of the conversation.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute continues to support Trump’s Paris decision amid contention from the international community, most notably from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Myron Ebell, Director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, had this to say ahead of the G-20 Summit.
“President Trump made the right decision to get the United States out of the Paris Climate Treaty. Other national and global leaders can complain all they want, but it doesn’t change the facts: Paris would cost jobs, cause energy prices to go up for consumers, undermine our national sovereignty, and all while having a negligible impact on greenhouse gas emissions. As the rest of the world starts to recognize that the Paris Climate Treaty is all pain for no gain, more and more countries will decide to follow President Trump’s leadership toward energy abundance.”
Fred Smith, CEI Founder and Director of the Center for Advancing Capitalism, weighed in on how withdrawing from the Paris Treaty strengthens our nation’s ability to self-govern:
“The Paris Treaty was the crown jewel in a campaign to move decision-making power from sovereign countries, like the United States, to an emerging global administrative state. Much like the power of U.S. regulators, the power of the Paris Treaty would be ambiguous and vague. And similar to the U.S. regulatory state, the global elite’s power and influence would grow as countries came to accept this power shift, creating a form of soft totalitarianism. Trump’s Paris decision represents the first check on this globalist, progressive agenda. That’s heartening for those of us who recognize how the global bureaucracy, on any issue, weakens the regulatory and tax competition disciplines that have done so much to accelerate economic growth.”
In a recent opinion article in The Washington Times, CEI Senior Fellow Christopher Horner reacts to pressure from the global community, including many countries who stand to benefit from an energy-diminished America:
“The Paris Agreement aims to erase the U.S. energy cost advantage. Period. Its costs are substantial — or ‘painful,’ as The New York Times put it.”
“Staying in the Paris Agreement would impose on U.S. businesses the economic hit that our trade competitors acknowledge — with the costs passed on to American consumers — with no measurable projected climate impact.”
CEI Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis emphasizes the risks to the economy and the American people if President Trump had not withdrawn from the agreement:
“Under the Paris Climate Agreement, U.S leaders would give unaccountable, foreign interests a large, permanent role in shaping U.S. energy and economic policy, forcing us to forever negotiate U.S. decisions with foreign governments and bureaucrats. Anyone serious about putting America first should view the Paris Agreement as an assault on the people’s authority to determine the direction of our nation’s policies through elections. Paris would out us in a political pressure club that is designed to cajole, browbeat, and shame the United States into acting against our own interests and our better judgement. What U.S. citizen wants that?”
“Moreover, staying in Paris would have made the Agreement’s goals the official policy of the United States. That is bound to influence how courts review climate change litigation, demanding either that federal agencies regulate greenhouse gas emissions or that U.S. firms pay damages for alleged climate torts. Just because some of its provisions are non-binding does not mean the Paris Agreement poses no legal risks to American sovereignty or the U.S. economy.”
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