Fact check: Donald Trump's shaky claims on climate accord
Announcing that the US will withdraw from the Paris climate accord, Donald Trump misplaced the blame for what ails the coal industry and laid a shaky factual foundation for his decision.
The Paris climate accord "would effectively decapitate our coal industry, which now supplies about one-third of our electric power".
The Paris Accord is a bad deal for Americans, and @POTUS' action today is keeping his promise to put American workers first. pic.twitter.com/YfbnaymerP
— The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) June 1, 2017
The US coal industry was in decline long before the Paris accord was signed in 2015.
The primary cause has been competition from cleaner-burning natural gas, which has been made cheaper and more abundant by hydraulic fracturing.
Electric utilities have been replacing coal plants with gas-fired facilities because they are more efficient and less expensive to operate.
Claims "absolutely tremendous economic progress since Election Day", adding "more than a million private-sector jobs".
My job as President is to do everything within my power to give America a level playing field. #AmericaFirst🇺🇸
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 1, 2017
➡️https://t.co/9VOb99W42r pic.twitter.com/2Lg8gxxXxV
Basically right, but he earns no credit for jobs created in the months before he became president.
To rack up that number, the president had to reach back to October. Even then, private-sector job creation from October through April (171,000 private-sector jobs a month) lags just slightly behind the pace of job creation for the previous six months (172,000), entirely under Barack Obama.
"I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris."
As the Mayor of Pittsburgh, I can assure you that we will follow the guidelines of the Paris Agreement for our people, our economy & future. https://t.co/3znXGTcd8C
— bill peduto (@billpeduto) June 1, 2017
That may be so, but Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, is not Trump country. It voted overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton in November, favouring her by a margin of 56% to Mr Trump's 40%.
The city has a climate action plan committing to boost the use of renewable energy.
Pittsburgh mayor Bill Peduto, a Democrat, has been an outspoken supporter of the Paris accord, and tweeted after Mr Trump's announcement that "as the Mayor of Pittsburgh, I can assure you that we will follow the guidelines of the Paris Agreement for our people, our economy & future".
"According to a study by NERA Consulting, meeting the Obama administration's requirements in the Paris Accord would cost the US economy nearly three trillion dollars over the next several decades. By 2040, our economy would lose 6.5 million industrial sector jobs - including 3.1 million manufacturing sector jobs."
.@POTUS: "My job as President is to do everything within my power to give America a level playing field." pic.twitter.com/zByFdXs2gJ
— The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) June 1, 2017
This study was paid for by two groups that have long opposed environmental regulation, the US Chamber of Commerce and the American Council for Capital Formation.
Both get financial backing from those who profit from the continued burning of fossil fuels.
The latter group has received money from foundations controlled by the Koch brothers, whose company owns refineries and more than 4,000 miles of oil and gas pipelines.
The study makes worst-case assumptions that may inflate the cost of meeting US targets under the Paris accord while largely ignoring the economic benefits to American businesses from building and operating renewable energy projects.
Academic studies have found that increased environmental regulation does not actually have much impact on employment. Jobs lost at polluting companies tend to be offset by new jobs in green technology.
"If all member nations met their obligations, the impact on the climate would be negligible" curbing temperature rise by "less than .2 degrees Celsius in 2100".
My statement on Today’s Decision by the Trump Administration to Withdraw from the Paris Agreement: https://t.co/eDEFv5b1nS pic.twitter.com/SzHJU3D0Mr
— Al Gore (@algore) June 1, 2017
The co-founder of the MIT programme on climate change says the administration is citing an outdated report, taken out of context.
Jake Jacoby said the actual global impact of meeting targets under the Paris accord would be to curb rising temperatures by one degree Celsius, or 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit.
"They found a number that made the point they want to make," Mr Jacoby said.
"It's kind of a debate trick."
One degree may not sound like much, but Stefan Rahmstorf, a climate scientist at the Potsdam Institute in Germany, says: "Every tenth of a degree increases the number of unprecedented extreme weather events considerably."
- AP
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
