President Donald Trump announces his decision on the Paris Climate Accord in the Rose Garden of the White House on Thursday.
Under the 2015 deal, the U.S. pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 26% to 28% below its 2005 levels in 2025.
Trump’s announcement may not simply be an in-or-out decision.
The president could actually decide to stay in the accord but adjust the U.S. targets. As the Associated Press notes, countries are permitted to change their goals and there isn’t punishment for missing the targets.
The backdrop to today’s announcement is Trump’s campaign pledge to abandon the deal, and failure to fully do so could alienate some supporters.
Yet even his own advisers are divided. On Wednesday, Trump said he was hearing from “a lot of people both ways.” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson favors staying in; Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt calls it a bad deal for the U.S.
Meanwhile, Tesla /quotes/zigman/118681/delayed /quotes/zigman/118681/lastsale TSLA CEO Elon Musk threatened to quit a pair of White House advisory councils if Trump quits the Paris agreement.
While environmentalists and other countries would criticize a withdraw, it’s worth noting that there are no penalties for the U.S. if it pulls out. The deal isn’t binding.
What’s more, leaving the agreement wouldn’t mean the end of all domestic efforts to reduce emissions, as the New York Times noted in this Q&A. States like California and New York are planning to keep pursuing their own programs to clean up power plants and vehicles.
The Sierra Club sent out this tweet a few minutes ago — a nod to Trump’s adviser Steve Bannon reportedly having the president’s ear on this issue.
U.S. stocks are broadly up as Trump prepares to speak, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all posting gains.
Some of the biggest names in Corporate America have urged Trump to stay in the accord, including Apple /quotes/zigman/68270/delayed /quotes/zigman/68270/lastsale AAPL , Google /quotes/zigman/59527964/delayed /quotes/zigman/59527964/lastsale GOOG and Exxon /quotes/zigman/203975/delayed /quotes/zigman/203975/lastsale XOM .
We’ve passed the advertised time for Trump to make his announcement, but that’s pretty typical for any White House. Stay tuned.
We’re getting somewhat of a preview of what Trump is going to say. Notice the use of the word “deal.” Trump may say he can get a better deal for the U.S., if he wants one at all.
A Democratic senator from Connecticut is apologizing to Earth and already looking forward to the next election.
Dear planet, we’re sorry. Please just hang on for three and a half more years and we’ll fix this. We promise.
Close to showtime. Here’s Vice President Mike Pence, introducing Trump.
President Trump is choosing to put “the forgotten men and women” first with this announcement, Pence says. Trump used the same line on Election Day.
But before his Paris comments, Trump says it’s “very sad” as to what’s going on in the world with regard to terror, after the reports of explosions and gunfire in the Philippines.
And he’s hailing the growth of the stock market since Election Day, as well as how many jobs the U.S. had added.
Trump says the U.S. will withdraw from the Paris climate accord, prompting applause in the Rose Garden.
But he says he’ll begin negotiations to re-enter. “We will start to negotiate and see if we can make a deal that’s fair,” he says.
Trump also says it’s possible the U.S. will negotiate something new entirely.
“The Paris accord is very unfair, at the highest level, to the United States,” Trump says.
He singles out India being allowed to double its coal production.
Trump is repeating his economic-growth target of 3% to 4%, and saying the U.S. needs “all forms” of energy.
Economists have said even 3% growth would be a major feat, as MarketWatch has written.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine says she’s disappointed in Trump’s decision. She’s a key centrist in the GOP.
Trump’s criticism of the Green Climate Fund isn’t new. Ceasing U.S. payments to the fund were part of his budget released last month.
That was quick: Elon Musk tweeted that he’s leaving the White House councils he sits on.
Executives including Elon Musk said they were disappointed with Trump’s decision while House Speaker Paul Ryan said the president made the right move.
What Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris agreement means for your wallet.
Opinion: Everyone will survive Trump’s climate mistake — except Big Coal.