US President Donald Trump has finally pulled the U.S. from the Paris accord on Climate Change. The decision has been highly questioned and condemned from within and without. Can Trump really withdraw the U.S. from the Paris convention? The Peoples' Republic of China, the EU, India, and the U..S are the four biggest emitters of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. With the exception of the U.S., the other nations have restated their commitment to the Paris accord besides vowing to decrease their carbon emissions.
The accord was a bad deal
Well, according to Trump, the Paris Accord was a bad deal for the U.S.
The Accord was never ratified by Senate before President Obama hurriedly signed it. Under the US Constitution, a treaty only becomes binding to the U.S. after it has obtained a two-thirds majority in Senate. The president only ratifies the treaty after approval from the Senate. Arguably, this never happened for the Paris Accord on Climate change.
With the exit of the U.S. from the global campaign, the Paris agreement's future remains uncertain. The President of the 22nd Conference on Climate Change, Salaheddine Mezouar has, however, indicated that global actions on climate change will continue. The US withdrawal could massively encourage nations like China and India to continue with their unregulated greenhouse emissions.
The move will drastically dent the progress achieved in curbing global warming.
Obama overlooked the Senate
Former U.S. President Barack Obama led a spirited campaign on climate change. He strongly advocated for nations to cut down on greenhouse emissions by embracing clean energy. Available data however indicates he never got the full support of Senate to make the Paris Accord fully binding on the U S.
So, should Senate stand and watch Trump trample on climate change initiative whose repercussions could be catastrophic for the U S coastlines? Should the president and other conservative hardliners blatantly disregard facts on global warming? These are a few questions io the growing list that climate change activists have to ponder on.
Loopholes in the Accord
With the existing loopholes in the ratification of the Paris Accord, Trump has possibly all the power to dismantle it because it never got the needed backing from Senate before it came it effect. Contrary to the hyped notion that climate change is a hoax, available information indicates that climate change is real and all nations including the U.S. have an obligation cut down on greenhouse emissions. Failure to act now will result in drastic increases in global temperatures and eventual massive meltdown of icebergs which will increase water levels and pose danger to coastlines and islands including Hawaii.
