Trump decided to pull U.S. out of Paris climate deal

U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, Axios news outlet reported on Wednesday, citing two unidentified sources with direct knowledge of the decision.

UPDATE: U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he will announce his decision “very soon” on whether he will withdraw the United States from the Paris climate deal.

Responding to shouted questions from reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said he had been hearing from people on both sides of the issue, but he declined to indicate whether he had made up his mind.

“I’m hearing from a lot of people, both ways. Both ways,” Trump said.

UPDATE: White House spokesman Sean Spicer declined on Wednesday to say whether President Donald Trump has decided to withdraw from the Paris Accord to fight climate change, despite reports indicating that he would pull out of the global deal.

Asked whether Trump planned to remove the United States from the Paris Accord or remain in, Spicer said: “When the president has a decision, he’ll make that announcement and he’ll make it clear what the basis of that is.”

Asked if that meant Trump had not made a final decision, Spicer said: “I obviously don’t know whether or not he’s made it, but when he’s ready to make an announcement, he’ll make it clear.”

UPDATE: The Paris climate change deal does not infringe on U.S. sovereignty, France’s ambassador to the United States said on Wednesday after multiple sources said President Donald Trump would pull his country out of the global pact.

The Paris accord is a political agreement. It doesn’t infringe on US sovereignty. National commitments are voluntary and may be amended.

— Gérard Araud (@GerardAraud) May 31, 2017

Major US corporations have expressed their support of the Paris accord.

— Gérard Araud (@GerardAraud) May 31, 2017

UPDATE: U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to follow through on a campaign pledge to pull the United States out of a global pact to fight climate change, a source who was briefed on the decision told Reuters, a move that should rally his support base at home while deepening a rift with U.S. allies abroad.

I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017

The decision will put the United States in league with Syria and Nicaragua as the world’s only non-participants in the Paris Climate Agreement. It could have sweeping implications for the deal, which relies heavily on the commitment of big polluter nations to reduce emissions of gases scientists blame for sea level rise, droughts and more frequent violent storms.

UPDATE: If the United States withdraws from the Paris climate deal, it would be a big setback, Finland’s Prime Minister Juha Sipila told parliament on Wednesday.

“If this is true, it is a big setback. Then, we must find partners to continue, because this work must not stop,” Sipila said. Climate change was a priority for Finland in the Arctic Council as well as the European Union, he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to make an announcement on whether he will stay in the agreement this week, with media reports on Wednesday suggesting he had made up his mind to withdraw.

Trump who has previously called global warming a hoax, refused to endorse the landmark climate change accord at a summit of the G7 group of wealthy nations on Saturday, saying he needed more time to decide. He then tweeted that he would make an announcement this week.

Fox News also cited an unidentified source confirming the pullout.

The accord, agreed on by nearly 200 countries in Paris in 2015, aims to limit planetary warming in part by slashing carbon dioxide and other emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. Under the pact, the United States committed to reducing its emissions by 26 to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025.

Axios said details of the pullout are being worked out by a team that includes EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. The choice is between a formal withdrawal that could take three years or leaving the U.N. treaty that the accord is based on, which would be quicker but more extreme, according to Axios.

The decision to withdraw from the climate accord was influenced by a letter from 22 Republican U.S. senators, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, calling for an exit, Axios reported.

Former President Barack Obama, who helped broker the accord, praised the accord during a trip to Europe this month.

The United States is the world’s second-biggest carbon dioxide emitter behind China.

Supporters of the climate pact are concerned that a U.S. exit could lead other nations to weaken their commitments or also withdraw, softening an accord that scientists have said is critical to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change.

Canada, the European Union, and China have said they will honor their commitments to the pact even if the United States withdraws. A source told Reuters that India had also indicated it would stick by the deal.

Promise kept

Trump had vowed during his campaign to “cancel” the Paris deal within 100 days of becoming president, as part of an effort to bolster U.S. oil and coal industries. That promise helped rally supporters sharing his skepticism of global efforts to police U.S. carbon emissions.

After taking office, however, Trump faced pressure to stay in the deal from investors, international powers and business leaders, including some in the coal industry. He also had to navigate a split among his advisers on the issue.

Trump aides including Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, lawyer Don McGahn and Peter Navarro, along with EPA chief Pruitt, argued hard for leaving the accord. They said the deal would require the U.S. government to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, which would hurt business.

Trump’s administration has already begun the process of killing Obama-era climate regulations.

The “stay-in” camp, which included Trump’s daughter Ivanka, chief economic adviser Gary Cohn, and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, had argued the United States could reduce its voluntary emission-cuts targets while still keeping a voice within the accord.

Oil majors Shell and Exxon Mobil have also supported the Paris pact, along with a number of Republican lawmakers. Several big coal companies, including Cloud Peak Energy, had publicly urged Trump to stay in the deal as a way to help protect the industry’s mining interests overseas, though others asked Trump to exit the accord to help ease regulatory pressures on domestic miners.

Trump has repeatedly expressed doubts about climate change, at times calling it a hoax to weaken U.S. industry. An overwhelming majority of scientists, however, say climate change is driven by human use of fossil fuels.

In an unusual admission, Group of Seven (G7) leaders said in their final communique on Saturday that they had failed to bridge differences over climate change, with the United States unable to join other countries in committing to the Paris Agreement.