The Negative Impacts of the Trump Administration’s Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement; What Does the Future Hold?

The Negative Impacts of the Trump Administration’s Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement; What Does the Future Hold?

By: Emily Meade & Michael Szot

Three years in the making, the Trump Administration has formally withdrawn from the Paris Agreement. President Trump originally announced that the United States would be withdrawing from the Agreement in June 1, 2017.[1] The Trump Administration has made constant efforts to pull away from previous administration’s policies to combat climate change. These can be seen not only in his withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, but in recent amendments to landmark legislation such as the Endangered Species Act, that now allows discretion in deciding whether to take in account climate change when listing new species and designating critical habitats.[2] In both situations, the Trump Administration has prioritized economic factors over the detrimental effects climate change will bring.

The Paris Agreement’s primary purpose was to tackle climate change effects globally by collectively joining nations with similar environmental interests. An astounding 189 nations have joined the Agreement. The Agreement emphasized the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to keep the global temperature from rising. President Trump argued that the Agreement disadvantaged the United States while benefiting other countries. He claims the agreement places a substantial burden on economic production.[3] In reality, the Agreement allows countries to design their own plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, referred to as nationally determined contributions. Countries therefore have the opportunity to independently create a plan that can cause the least significant burden to their nation.[4]

Likewise, the United States bears the majority of responsibility since it has far exceeded any other country in greenhouse gas emissions. It is inevitable that the agreement will cause some economic loss, but the United States has the strongest incentive to reduce our striking numbers in emissions. The Paris Agreement also uses scientific-based targets, ensuring a more targeted and calculated approach to tracking and reporting greenhouse gas emissions. It creates a transparency between countries which ensures accountability and eliminates emissions that may have gone unnoticed.[5]

According to Christopher Brito, a journalist with CBS News, the United States’ withdrawal from this agreement allows for domestic climate change policies to weaken or vanish entirely, as no post-withdrawal plan has been announced.[6] The international community will be hesitant about the United States’ ability and willingness to take a concrete stand on combatting climate change. If the United States fails to take climate change seriously, and refuses to extend a lending hand to the rest of the globe, other countries will be reluctant to rely on the United States as a global leader.[7]

The timing of the Trump Administration’s formal withdrawal from the Paris Agreement was more than fitting, occurring on November 4th just days after the 2020 Presidential Election. President Trump’s political agenda has consistently caused negative impacts on the environment throughout his entire term. Fortunately for the United States, President-Elect Joe Biden has regularly emphasized the importance of addressing climate change and stated that he would immediately rejoin the United States in the Paris Agreement the first day in office.[8]

Under the Biden Plan, he introduces several initiatives. On a domestic scale, Biden wants to shift the U.S. economy towards 100% clean energy and net-zero emissions by 2050 by enforcing environmental regulations, investing in clean energy technologies, and incentivizing businesses to adopt these new innovations. Likewise, on a global scale, Biden wants the U.S. to lead by example and encourage other countries to make lasting commitments concerning climate change.  International trade agreements, foreign policies, and national security measures will not move forward without the world’s climate obligations and environmental goals in mind.[9]

To achieve these goals, Biden plans on making a $1.7 trillion federal investment over the next ten years, with an additional $5 trillion funding sourced from private, state, and local investments. Despite the large price tag, Biden wants to fund this initiative by reversing the Trump tax cuts for corporations, reducing incentives for tax havens, evasion, outsourcing, ensuring corporations pay their fair share, closing other loopholes in our tax code and ending subsidies for fossil fuels.[10] An investment of this magnitude is expected to create many new jobs across the United States.

It is hopeful that under the Biden Administration the United States will rejoin the 189 nations in the Paris Agreement, and take a strong stance to globally combat the detrimental effects of climate change.

[1] Donald Trump, Statement by President Trump on Paris Climate Accord (June 1, 2017) https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-president-trump-paris-climate-accord/.

[2] Lisa Friedman, U.S. Significantly Weakens Endangered Species Act (August 12, 2019) https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/12/climate/endangered-species-act-changes.html.

[3] Donald Trump, Statement by President Trump on Paris Climate Accord (June 1, 2017) https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-president-trump-paris-climate-accord/.

[4] Pros and Cons of the Paris Climate Change Agreement for America, Healthyhumanlife.com, https://healthyhumanlife.com/blogs/news/paris-agreement-pros-and-cons (last visited November 8, 2020).

[5] Id.

[6] Christopher Brito, Joe Biden Vows to Rejoin the Paris Climate Deal on First of Office if Elected (November 5, 2020) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paris-climate-accord-biden-rejoin-president/?ftag=CNM-00-10aac3a.

[7] Id.

[8] Biden Vows to Rejoin Paris Climate Deal if Elected President, alijazeera.com, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/5/biden-vows-to-return-us-to-paris-climate-accord-if-elected (last visited November 8, 2020).

[9] The Biden Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution and Environmental Justice, joebiden.com, https://joebiden.com/climate-plan/ (last visited November 8, 2020).

[10] Id.