Boston (June 1, 2017) – Despite the United States being the world’s biggest carbon polluter in history, President Donald Trump today announced he is withdrawing America from the Paris climate agreement. In 2015, in the largest gathering of heads of state in history, 195 countries, led in great part by the United States, crafted a global agreement to address climate change. By pulling out of the climate deal, the United States joins Syria and Nicaragua as the only nations not participating in the global agreement. 

Senator Markey is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee; Environment and Public Works Committee; and Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, and is Chair of the Senate Climate Clearinghouse.

“President Trump is breaking a promise to the world to combat climate change in order to keep an empty campaign promise to the coal industry,” said Senator Markey. “Withdrawal from the climate agreement is a betrayal of scientific fact, economic opportunity, and moral leadership.

“Turning our back on this agreement will be a disaster for America -- for our businesses, for our health, and for our national security. Unless we reduce dangerous carbon pollution, the public’s health with suffer from more asthma attacks and respiratory illness. We will have to pay the price for rising seas and more natural disasters. Drought and famines can all lead to unrest and mass migration, making the world more dangerous and jeopardizing our national security. A clean energy revolution is happening across the globe, but President Trump wants to cede countless American clean energy jobs and the development of new technologies to China, Germany, India, and other nations.

“The majority of Americans want the United States to take action to reduce carbon pollution. But with this abdication of U.S. leadership on climate change, President Trump is replacing activity with passivity, and it will be the future generations of the world who will pay the greatest price.

“President Trump can’t actually initiate the U.S. withdraw from the Paris climate agreement until the end of 2019, and I believe voters in the 2020 presidential election will lodge their resistance to this historically-disastrous decision.”