Sacré Bleu: President Trump hints of Paris Accord reversal
However, if it doesn’t happen, that will be OK, too!
In June, as President Trump spoke about withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Accord, he indicated that he would be open to renegotiating the deal for terms more favorable to this country.
Initially, it appeared that the other signatories of the international agreement would not agree to new negotiations. However, Trump’s remarks in France on the heels of the G20 economic summit indicates the political climate may have changed.
Donald Trump has opened the door to a reversal of his decision on the Paris Agreement on climate change saying that “something” could happen regarding the deal during his trip to France for Bastille Day.
Mr. Trump withdrew the US from the global climate agreement which nearly 200 countries signed in December 2015 in an effort to combat global warming and help poorer countries adapt to an already-changed planet. He said it puts American workers, particularly in the coal industry, at an “economic disadvantage”.
“If it happens that will be wonderful and if it doesn’t that will be ok too,” Mr Trump said at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, appearing to leave the matter open-ended. “We’ll see what happens,” he added.
Meanwhile, the French President Emmanuel Macron was quite conciliatory.
Macron said while the leaders have a “number of disagreements” on the threat of global warming, he respected Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the agreement.
…The two leaders’ meeting and subsequent news conference followed colorful pageantry that welcomed Trump for a two-day visit that includes dinner at the Eiffel Tower Thursday night and commemoration of Bastille Day — France’s Fourth of July — on Friday.
During a news conference, Macron said he and Trump would work on a “joint roadmap” to fight terrorism and post-war initiatives for Syria.
A video of the Trump-Macron press conference in which the potential reversal of the climate accord withdrawal was mentioned has been posted by the PBS News Hour:
Yet, it will be difficult to reconcile Americans to cut back on coal…when the Chinese have plans to expand the world coal-fired power capacity by over 40 percent.
When China halted plans for more than 100 new coal-fired power plants this year, even as President Trump vowed to “bring back coal” in America, the contrast seemed to confirm Beijing’s new role as a leader in the fight against climate change.
But new data on the world’s biggest developers of coal-fired power plants paints a very different picture: China’s energy companies will make up nearly half of the new coal generation expected to go online in the next decade.
These Chinese corporations are building or planning to build more than 700 new coal plants at home and around the world, some in countries that today burn little or no coal, according to tallies compiled by Urgewald, an environmental group based in Berlin. Many of the plants are in China, but by capacity, roughly a fifth of these new coal power stations are in other countries.
Over all, 1,600 coal plants are planned or under construction in 62 countries, according to Urgewald’s tally, which uses data from the Global Coal Plant Tracker portal. The new plants would expand the world’s coal-fired power capacity by 43 percent.
So, I am inclined to think Trump’s decision will be “doesn’t happen“. However, in an effort to separate President Trump from his supporters, I predict that the American press will focus on the “something may happen”. Our press is nothing if not predictable when it comes to coverage of the White House.
Our withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord was one of the topics I covered as a guest on Canto Talk.
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Comments
Trump went thru a whole host of ‘head fakes’ prior to pulling out of the Paris Accords.
I can see him say that we will maintain the emission levels, but he won’t send them a dime.
Since the G20 said they won’t renegotiate it, Trump will make them renegotiate it. In the meantime, he makes Macron think he has outsmarted him.
The Press would love nothing more than for Trump to nail his own feet to the floor with a boneheaded statement of the “read my lips” variety.
Of course he’s going to keep them busy—as usual—with something they can read any way they want, but always incorrectly. That’s how he’s been controlling them all along.
No. This is a strategy. By saying he would be willing to go back into the Paris accord if “something happens” this puts the anti-Trump forces on uncertain ground. It moves the accord from simple “Accord good/opposition evil” to complex “Ok, what would need to be changed in the accord in order for Trump to sign up for it again” and THAT brings out the laundry list of unfair elements of the accord.
Seriously, this allows any defenders to point out the things that need changed, such as the US shouldering a massive amount of the costs, the way it is biased against US companies, etc…
tl;dr – We’re not going back into that mess
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“Over all, 1,600 coal plants are planned or under construction in 62 countries…”
This is also a little deceptive, because a certain percentage of the new construction is to replace old, less-efficient and more polluting plants. Plus, you’re using ‘planned’ in the numbers, which counts plants that have not even generated any paper yet, and may not have a site selected.
Trump is being reasonable by being open-minded. He risks nothing. The entire corrupt process that culminated in the Paris Accord was anything but reasonable. It is not up to Trump to change but everyone else. Won’t happen. But if you are a one-worlder, now what?
Everyone talks about what Trump says, yet very few people seem to actually listen to what Trump actually says.
From the very beginning, Trump has said that if the treaty were renegotiated, and the US wasn’t on the hook for all of the huge planned cash outlays, and if China and India were put on a level playing field with the US, then he would be happy to be part of the Paris Accord.
So, if these things change, then yes, he would be glad to be part of it. So why is this such a safe thing for him to say? Because Merkel and Macron were among the first to jump out last month and publicly declare that there could NEVER be any renegotiation of any of the Accord, ever. And of course the LAST thing the Chinese want is to be put on any kind of a level playing field with the US, so if that is the demand, the Chinese walk out. Guaranteed.
Yep. The very objective of the Global Warming initiative is to establish a NWO and since the US has the only real economy, we have to fund the whole thing while surrendering our sovereignty. They would give that up? Never happen.
But that won’t stop the MSM, Dems and NeverTrumpers from doing what they always do. That is why Trump seems to always win in the end. I’m waiting to see how Kid Rock fits into all of this. He already has Screeching Eagle in a panic.
“Sacré Blue” …we might say that in Québec, but in Paris? Deplorable!
Pardon. C’est “Bleu” et “déplorables.”
As I have previously said, since Donald Trump has no actual “beliefs”, as the term is generally understood, anything is possible. He has goals, but lacks both the discipline to plan long term and the beliefs necessary to inform his actions. Thus, he will adopt any tactic he deems at a given moment useful to achieve some goal. The tactic of promising the Embassy move to Jerusalem achieved its goal. The ACTUAL move will only occur if he thinks it will advance another goal. There is no principle involved. I suppose he is bemused by those whose decisions are based on principles.
So, leaving the Paris Accord helped some goal. It wasn’t based on any belief that the Accord was bad. If he sees that it will help him achieve some other goal then, for sure, he will get back in.
Same for healthcare, tax reform, immigration reform, NATO, the Wall, trade and tariffs, the Iran deal, infrastructure…whatever.
So, on any issue what will he do? Only two certainties. First, the actual decision will, from the outside looking in, be a coin toss. And second, its not going to be permanent.
The guy has been in office a little over six months – give him a break! In a mere six months – with NO ONE other than his voter base behind him – look what he HAS done:
http://www.conservapedia.com/Donald_Trump_achievements
That said, The Donald is probably smart enough to know if he moved to the ‘middle,’ he’d have a base of no one except the losers of the GOPe, who would stab him in the back anyway.
The Donald knows where is bread is buttered. Besides, idealogically, he and us are on the same page, anyway.
For the last year, I have continually seen statements such as “Donald Trump has no actual “beliefs”. Based on the evidence of the last 6 months of Legislative Tomfoolery, I am curious if anyone can name a single Republican officeholder who has actual “beliefs”.
I’m not really letting the Democrats off the hook, it’s just that I know what their beliefs are – Power at any cost, Power at any price to the nation.
This talk about “beliefs” puts me in mind of what James wrote, when he was discussing the interplay of Faith and Works: “You show me your faith without works; I shall show you my faith BY my works.”
Right on.
The only ‘pro’ side of the GOPe is they don’t vote lock-step with the democrats. The ‘con’ side is that they’re hogging positions we need to fill with real men and women.
Trump’s tenure is already a success, even if he does nothing else for eight years. First, he defeated Crooked Hillary, who would have been even worse than the Treasonous Criminal Zerobama, the worst president in US history. Second, he seated Gorsuch and saved the Supreme Court. Finally, he saved us from the Paris Accord scam. He has signed more legislation in his first 100 days than any recent president. He is beginning to bring immigration under control. He is beginning to clamp down on sanctuary cities. He is reversing the onerous regulations of the Treasonous Criminal Zerobama regime. That makes him a pretty good president.
If he seats a couple more justices and about a hundred lesser court judges, and continues his current initiatives, he will have been a great president.
If he is able to bring the Federal bureaucracy under control, and drain some of the swamp he will be Donaldus Magnus.
Regarding Tom’s comment you are absolutely right. I realized after I posted that I should have mentioned that, but you said it better. Senator McConnell has absolutely no core whatsoever. In some ways, however, Paul Ryan is the worst (or at least most disheartening) in Congress. Ryan knows better. I have heard him explain the need to deep six Obamacare in coherent and rational ways, yet now in leadership he has sold out. You’re right. Cheers.
McConnell does have a core: and it looks like his face.
Ryan has a core as well: and ultimately, it’s rotten.
Deep-six every GOPe rat and we’ll see obamacare get deep-sixed.