Nearly 200 countries signed the agreement in 2015 and pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Each country has set its own goals, and many rich countries, including the United States, have also agreed to help the poorest countries pay the costs associated with climate change. In a televised announcement from the White House rose garden on June 1, 2017, Trump said, “To fulfill my solemn duty to protect the United States and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement,” adding, “The bottom line is that the Paris Agreement at the highest level is very unfair to the United States.” [2] He claimed that the deal, if implemented, would cost the United States $3 trillion in lost GDP and 6.5 million jobs. [3] He added that it would “undermine our economy, hinder our workers” and “effectively decapitalize our coal industry.” [4] He said he was open to renegotiating the arrangement or negotiating a new agreement, but EU and UN leaders said the pact “cannot be renegotiated at the request of one party.” [35] Trump also criticized the Green Climate Fund, calling it a program to redistribute wealth from rich to poor countries. [36] The United States could join him in the future if a president chooses to do so. At the G7 summit in late May 2017, Trump was the only G7 member not to reaffirm his commitment to the Paris Agreement. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of the other heads of state and government present, was not publicly impressed by Trump`s refusal to cooperate on climate protection, which damaged relations between Germany and the United States. [32] The communiqué issued at the end of the summit states that the United States is “unable to join the consensus” of other G7 countries on climate change policy and the Paris Agreement. [33] Joe Biden, Trump`s opponent in the 2020 US presidential election, promised to run for re-election to the Paris Agreement on his first day as President of the United States. [17] [18] Many of the major auto and aviation companies had already invested billions in reducing emissions and were unlikely to change course. General Motors, the largest automaker in the United States, immediately pointed out, “Our position on climate change has not changed. we are publicly committed to climate action” and reaffirmed its support for various climate commitments. Analyst Rebecca Lindland also pointed out that automakers were not subject to any specific restrictions under the agreement and nothing had changed.

Even if Trump eased other restrictions on the auto industry that allowed for the production of less environmentally friendly cars, those cars still had to meet the standards before they could be exported to other continents or even certain states. Jason Bordoff, an energy policy expert at Columbia University, agreed that a setback would make no difference to the economy, arguing that it would be determined by market conditions such as the price of oil and gas. At the same time, airlines have spent billions of dollars looking for more fuel-efficient ways to fly anyway – fuel is an airline`s second largest expense after work and therefore consuming less fuel (meaning fewer emissions) is in their financial interest. [50] Kabir Nanda and Varad Pande, consultants and senior partners at Dahlberg, respectively, argued that despite the U.S. withdrawal, the U.S. private sector is still engaged in renewable energy and technology. .