Washington, Jan 21: US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order to withdraw from the ambitious Paris Agreement on Climate Change, a fulfilment of a campaign promise.
“I am immediately withdrawing from the unfair one-sided Paris climate accord,” Trump said before signing the executive order at an inauguration event at Washington’s Capital One arena here.
Notably Trump had withdrawn from the Paris Agreement immediately after his first inauguration in January 2017. Joe Biden reversed that decision later.
The Paris Agreement places unfair economic burdens on American workers, businesses, and taxpayers. It hampers the economic and national security of the United States while allowing the world’s leading polluters such as China to continue to pollute, according to the Trump team.
Describing it as a one-sided agreement, Trump said the United States will not sabotage its own industries while China pollutes with impunity.
“China, I mean, look, they use a lot of dirty energy, but they produce a lot of energy and when that stuff goes up in the air, you know, it doesn’t stay there,” he said.
“It’s not like you got a wall. We love walls, don’t we? Not like you have a wall around and it floats into the United States of America after three and a half to five and a half days. It floats across the oceans and it comes right over your neighbourhood and it falls into your neighbourhood. So, they all say we have to fight for cleaner air, but the other dirty air is dropping all over us, so what the hell are they talking about,” Trump said. (PTI)
