Shortly after being elected President, Donald Trump expressed that he wanted to find ways to remove the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement and put a stop-payment on a $500 million check Obama wrote for the UN Climate fund days before Trump’s inauguration.
However, close to Trump’s 100-day presidential milestone, it is now being reported that a showdown between Trump’s advisors and cabinet members is set to occur next week over this inane international agreement.
President Donald Trump’s most senior advisers will huddle next week to resolve long-simmering tensions over whether the United States should stay in the Paris climate change agreement, a major point of dispute between the moderate and nationalist wings of the White House, three administration officials told POLITICO.National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, senior adviser Jared Kushner and chief strategist Steve Bannon are expected to be at the table. The meeting is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, but sources cautioned that the timing and number of attendees is still in flux.The advisers and Cabinet officials hope to be able to reach consensus on a recommendation to the president, though that could prove difficult, as they are divided over whether to abandon the agreement.Bannon and Pruitt are said to be strongly opposed to remaining in the agreement, while Kushner and Tillerson are said to be in favor of staying. Cohn and McMaster have not yet staked out a position in internal discussions at the White House, but they are also expected to argue for staying in the pact.
I must admit, I am a bit skeptical of the level of drama presented in this report. The elite media, no fans of President Trump, often distorts White House activities in ways that attempt to undermine his support among those Americans who like Trump’s energy and business policies. Furthermore, these epic battles between the “progressive” vs “alt-right” wings are very likely to be a media construct.
Additionally, there are several key data points that indicate that the “showdown” is likely to be as thrilling as a standard business meeting.
1) EPA head Scott Pruitt officially called for the US to exit the Paris Climate Agreement.
President Trump’s top environment official called for an “exit” from the historic Paris agreement Thursday, the first time such a high-ranking administration official has so explicitly disavowed the agreement endorsed by nearly 200 countries to fight climate change.Speaking with “Fox & Friends,” Pruitt commented, “Paris is something that we need to really look at closely. It’s something we need to exit in my opinion.”“It’s a bad deal for America,” Pruitt continued. “It was an America second, third, or fourth kind of approach. China and India had no obligations under the agreement until 2030. We front-loaded all of our costs.”
2) This past week, leading energy officials from the Group of Seven industrial nations failed to construct a joint declaration on climate change because of the new U.S. administration.
…Italy’s economic development minister, Carlo Calenda, told a news conference that those areas remained “key priorities for other G-7 countries and the EU” but that the United States “reserves its position” while the review is underway.“Therefore it was not possible to sign a final joint declaration, since it would not cover the whole range of topics in the agenda,” he said.Energy Secretary Rick Perry led the U.S. delegation to the talks that were being closely watched by climate change activists after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that was part of his pledge to undo much of his predecessor’s efforts against global warming.
3) China is now expressing its displeasure with the accords.
Top Chinese Climate Negotiator Xie Zhenhua has responded to a parade of official reassurances about the Paris Climate Agreement, by demanding to know when “developed” countries will start paying China the money which was promised in Paris…..In my opinion the only reason China signed up to their non-commitment to do something about CO2 emissions, is they expected the USA to borrow money from China, then return that money back to China as climate aid – which would have left US taxpayers an international laughing stock, paying off loans which have already been paid back to China.Now Trump seems likely to cancel the payments, China wants to know why they should keep pretending.
Given the reports on the productive and friendly meetings between President Trump and China’s President Xi, I surmise that they both view climate change alarmism as a distraction that hurts the economies of both countries as well as the rest of the world.
4) Finally, and perhaps the most important point: After Obamacare, the Paris Climate Agreement is probably former President Obama’s most significant “success”. Trump has been targeting Obama’s legacy projects with the accuracy of a drone and the power of a MOAB. The Paris Climate Change agreement has been on his radar for quite some time.
Based on the data points above, I theorize that the showdown will be limited to Tucker Carlson and the eco-activist who will be arguing whether or not Trump is going to kill the planet….again.
[Featured Image via YouTube]
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