Trump pulls out of Paris climate deal

[kort677]

Well, you clearly haven't read the text.
China gets nothing, nada, definitely not "trillions". (China is actually contributing money.)
India may get something but the with a total US pledge of $3billion (only $400 million actually paid), it will be substantially less than "trillions".

Ironically, it's probably only a matter of time before other countries slap a carbon tax on US exports which will cost us a lot more in the long run.

whether this interpretation is right or wrong isn't relevant, the bottom line is that under the agreement the US would have been liable to pay many hundreds of billions of dollars.
Trump has laid down the line here with the leaving the accords, with nato and everywhere that the US is not the world's ATM anymore. there won't be pallets of cash delivered to countries as was the case under the prior regime in power.

 

[McRat]

Well, you clearly haven't read the text.
China gets nothing, nada, definitely not "trillions". (China is actually contributing money.)
India may get something but the with a total US pledge of $3billion (only $400 million actually paid), it will be substantially less than "trillions".

Ironically, it's probably only a matter of time before other countries slap a carbon tax on US exports which will cost us a lot more in the long run.

No. China has not given a penny. Or whatever their smallest unit of currency is. Why some people insist on perpetuating this lie is totally bizarre. What good comes from lying about it?

The US payments so far are $1 billion out of the $2.2 billion contributed by signatory nations.

 

[thegruf]

From the UK, my perspective is this:

The USA as the largest western democracy is a country we naturally look to for leadership, especially strategic leadership for decisions that affect the entire world's future.

So, the signing of the Paris accord is as much symbolic as anything, and the USA signing was undoubtedly key in getting almost every country of note on board with the agreement. It's termed inspiring others by strong leadership. Of just as much importance is that the Paris accord is almost certainly just the first baby step in what will be an ongoing process as further evidence of climate change is found.

Trump announcing departure from the Paris accord sends entirely the wrong signal to the rest of the world and appears to accelerate the diminishing of USA leadership and power.

With the ongoing rise of other major economic powers like China, and to a lesser extent India, together with Russia stamping it's feet and demanding attention, never mind the mess that is the Middle East, erosion of US global leadership is exactly what is not needed at this time.

As for Trump; well when the Mayor of London following the recent terrorist attack said quite justifiably:
"Londoners will see an increased police presence today and over the course of the next few days. There's no reason to be alarmed."

and Trump tweets:
At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is "no reason to be alarmed!"
as well as
“Do you notice we are not having a gun debate right now? That's because they used knives and a truck!”

With such political ineptitude never mind the inability to comprehend, then it is not hard to see why Trump elicits a mix of derision, despair and contempt over here and undoubtedly diminishes the US on the world stage.

 

[kort677]

From the UK, my perspective is this:

.

with all due respect, the UK perspective on this level is not especially credible or relevant unless you are speaking for PM may

 

[oktane]

No, it's not a diminishing of USA leadership or power, it is a change of priorities. No longer are we going to cater to the rest of the world and political correctness. We are here to stay number one not turn into Europe, a total disaster.

The mayor of London is clueless about what is going on in his own city. I have lost count of how many terrorist attacks have occurred in London and Europe in the past year. No thanks to your socialist policies and terrorist embedded cities.

Most Americans finally see the truth about what is going on which is why Trump is in power. Enough is enough. Don't let the media fool you, majority of Americans who have researched it are not pro-Paris agreement and don't feel the mayor of London is doing a good job.

And for you, yes it is time to be alarmed. It's time for the world to stop allowing terrorism in the name of political correctness.

Amazing for me to see outrage over the Paris agreement, but not see outrage over all of the recent terrorist attacks in London. Where are all the celebrities? I think they feel too comfortable in the USA, immune to this, until it hits home again. They don't realize that they are next after Europe.

 

[thx1139]

I

And your point? The USA is not a democracy where the majority rules. We are a constitutional republic wth an electoral college. There are many benefits as evidenced by this recent election. Go back to civics 101.

If Trump is such an idiot, perhaps you should do a better job for us all in 2020.

It is true that because of the EC he is the President. So he was elected President, but that doesnt mean the majority agree with his positions or agenda. EC vote does not result in changed popular vote opinion.

 

[thx1139]

No. China has not given a penny. Or whatever their smallest unit of currency is. Why some people insist on perpetuating this lie is totally bizarre. What good comes from lying about it?

The US payments so far are $1 billion out of the $2.2 billion contributed by signatory nations.

Yes money already pledged for economic development foreign assistance programs meant for other nations.

 

[thx1139]

with all due respect, the UK perspective on this level is not especially credible or relevant unless you are speaking for PM may

Can you be any more condescending towards our fellow world citizens?

 

[kort677]

Can you be any more condescending towards our fellow world citizens?

spoken like a true one world ideologue, when the rest of the world gets to form US policy is the day the US ceases to exist as a sovereign nation.

 

[thx1139]

spoken like a true one world ideologue, when the rest of the world gets to form US policy is the day the US ceases to exist as a sovereign nation.

When it comes to Climate and human existence as far as I know we live on one world.

 

[kort677]

the inconvenient truth
Fox News’ Chris Wallace Confronts Al Gore With His Failed Global Warming Predictions [VIDEO]

 

[oktane]

When it comes to Climate and human existence as far as I know we live on one world.

Yes. I love our neighbors but we can't let the world make decisions on our behalf. I don't understand the motive for the open borders that democrats want. One world policy where we form our policies based on what everyone else in the world thinks makes sense or is fair.

 

[brucet999]

IMO, this move is more about Trump appealing to his base than to the majority of Americans. Having said that, he did get voted into office.

I would posit that it was Trump appealing to Trump, but if it was to his base, it won't get him re-elected, IMO, because only about 20% actually voted for him, the rest voted against Hillary. Next time, he will probably have an electable Democrat opponent who will defeat him soundly.

 

[McRat]

Yes money already pledged for economic development foreign assistance programs meant for other nations.

Here's a pledge for $200,000. Go buy a nice P100D and take a long vacation in it. On me. You're welcome. Just tell the dealer I signed a non-binding promissory note.

 

[kort677]

Can you be any more condescending towards our fellow world citizens?

what you call condescending I call rejecting his arrogance. he is voicing his opinion, which he is free to do but he is representing that he speaks for all of the people in the UK. arrogance!

 

[tomas]

As with all threads that discuss Trump and Climate Change, it is only a short matter of time before a certain trio jumps in, smears everyone presenting disputing data or differing viewpoint with generalizations, and dominate thread with a multitude of posts, insulting anyone who dares to disagree. Sad that this forum has come to this. Wish we could exchange opinions without insults and venom, but the genii appears to be out of the bottle and the internet's negativity bias again proves itself.

 

[tomas]

From the UK, my perspective is this:

 

[brucet999]

What is happening in the US right now?

The European press blames President Trump for the last action, but hey, they always do.
Then as well: He was elected. What does the majority of Americans think about the last move?

The majority of Americans may think the US should have stayed in the Paris Accord, but only because the media have been cheer-leading for it. In the end, it won't matter anyway because the whole thing was a feel-good exercise with no chance of accomplishing anything measurable. Obama promised reductions that he couldn't achieve, China, India and Pakistan only promised to try to level off CO2 emissions in 20 years or so once they have achieved parity with more developed economies, underdeveloped countries cannot afford to give up burning fuels (including wood) unless the developed nations impoverish themselves by spending untold billions building renewable energy infrastructure in places without the technical, political and social structure to maintain them. Only Europe has had the will to develop substantial renewable energy infrastructure and even there the resistance to electric transport has been strong until VW got caught cheating on diesel emissions.

I am among the sizable minority who, for a number of reasons, don't trust the computer models that claim to "prove" that humans are the primary cause of global warming. The glaciers in Alaska have been receding since before fossil fuel burning became so pervasive, after all. Nevertheless, I believe that human activity must be contributing to global warming and so I favor renewable power generation of all sorts, I drive electric, and will soon install PV.

 

[McRat]

The US needs to reduce it's needs for petroleum for national defense purposes regardless of what other countries do. No, we do not have to spend the resources overseas first until this task is complete.

 

[thx1139]