Trump withdraws from Paris climate deal, but says he’ll begin new negotiations

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would make good on a top campaign promise to withdraw from the so-called Paris climate agreement, a global pact to combat global warming.

“One by one we are keeping the promises I made during my run for president,” Trump said..

But Trump quickly said he would immediately to negotiate the deal supported by 190 nations to detemine if the United States could get a fairer deal for American workers.

“We’re getting out but we will start to negotiate and we will see if we can make a deal that’s fair,” he said. “If we can, that’s great. If we can’t, that’s fine.”

The long-awaited decision — anncounced in a lengthy speech alongside Vice President Mike Pence from the Rose Garden — followed an intense debate within his administration about which direction to move.

His daughter, Ivanka, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, both top advisers, leaders of other nations and large companies all lobbying Trump to stay in the agreement that was approved by his predecessor, Barack Obama.

But some of his closest advisers, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt and conservative group had been pushing him to leave.

“The Paris Agreement opened the floodgates for businesses, scientists, and engineers to unleash high-tech, low-carbon investment and innovation on an unprecedented scale,” Obama said in a statement. “The nations that remain in the Paris agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created.”

The Paris pact obligates the U.S. to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 26 to 28 percent by 2025, compared to 2005 levels. The aim of the pact is to prevent global temperatures from rising 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, a level that scientists say could cause irreversible, catastrophic impacts.

The White House sent lawmakers on Capitol Hill talking points before his speech, saying: “The Accord was negotiated poorly by the Obama Administration and signed out of desperation. It frontloads costs on the American people to the detriment of our economy and job growth while extracting meaningless commitments from the world’s top global emitters, like China. The U.S. is already leading the world in energy production and doesn’t need a bad deal that will harm American workers.”

Republicans and conservative groups immediately cheered the reported decision.

“The Paris climate agreement was simply a raw deal for America,” House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. “Signed by President Obama without Senate ratification, it would have driven up the cost of energy, hitting middle-class and low-income Americans the hardest.”

But Democrats and environmental groups said Trump was risking the Earth’s future.

“This decision shows a stunning disregard for the well-being of people and the planet,” said Andrew Steer, president & CEO of the World Resources Institute. “President Trump will now have to answer for walking away from one of the most hard-fought and popular global achievements in recent memory.”

“We can all agree that all people should be able to breathe clean air and live in a safe and healthy environment,” Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. “Pulling out of the Paris Agreement is an irrational decision that is a disastrous step backward, threatens the future viability of our planet for future generations, and abdicates our role of leadership.”

Lesley Clark, Stuart Leavenworth and Lindsay Wise contributed.

This story was originally published June 1, 2017 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Trump withdraws from Paris climate deal, but says he’ll begin new negotiations."