I/II. [If you cut through the smoke and mirrors of President Trump's announcement of withdrawal from the Paris accord, and take a cold hard look at what he has been doing for the past five months, one thing stands out. He has already demolished the moderate attempts made by Obama to tackle greenhouse gas emissions in the US through a series of orders. So much so that US commitments under the Paris deal were already dead in the water. ... Its scrapping will lead to an addition of 200 million tons of gases by 2025. Emission standards for cars and light trucks are under review, the moratorium on federal coal leases has been lifted, methane reporting requirements have been withdrawn and the Social Cost of Carbon, an accounting arrangement to build in costs of emissions, has been rescinded. The US had committed at Paris to reduce emissions by 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025. Obama's policies would have reduced emissions by 10%, the rest was still a work in progress. But all that is history now.]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/how-trump-had-already-killed-paris-deal-in-his-1st-5-months/articleshow/58968872.cms How Trump had already killed Paris deal in his 1st 5 months Subodh Varma | TNN | Jun 3, 2017, 01.00 AM IST If you cut through the smoke and mirrors of President Trump's announcement of withdrawal from the Paris accord, and take a cold hard look at what he has been doing for the past five months, one thing stands out. He has already demolished the moderate attempts made by Obama to tackle greenhouse gas emissions in the US through a series of orders. So much so that US commitments under the Paris deal were already dead in the water. President Trump rescinded Obama Administration's Climate Action Plan (CAP). His "America First Energy Plan" promised to do away with "burdensome regulations on our energy industry" and reviving America's coal industry. His executive order on "energy independence" initiated the process of "suspending, revising, and rescinding" a number of existing policies, including the Clean Power Plan. Several other federal policies aimed at controlling emissions are under review. Just doing away with the CAP, which was to improve energy efficiency and reduce methane emissions by 40-45%, especially from the fracking industry, will add about 1,000 million tons of greenhouse gases (measured in carbondioxide equivalent terms). The Clean Power Plan, which was to reduce power sector emissions by 32%, was blocked by the American Supreme Court and is now under review by the Trump administration. Its scrapping will lead to an addition of 200 million tons of gases by 2025. Emission standards for cars and light trucks are under review, the moratorium on federal coal leases has been lifted, methane reporting requirements have been withdrawn and the Social Cost of Carbon, an accounting arrangement to build in costs of emissions, has been rescinded. The US had committed at Paris to reduce emissions by 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025. Obama's policies would have reduced emissions by 10%, the rest was still a work in progress. But all that is history now. With Trump's anti-environmental, ultra nationalist stance, the downward trend of emissions of the last decade will be reversed, although efforts by States and cities may keep the momentum going. Falling solar and wind energy costs, and industry backing to emission control will also help. But the US is going to fail to keep its emissions in check virtually holding the whole world to ransom. II. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/06/02/climate-action-unstoppable-nations-should-stay-course-un-chief- US climate pact pullout could add 0.3 degrees of warming: UN The US withdrawal from the Paris climate pact could 'in a worst case scenario' add a 0.3 degree Celsius rise in global temperatures over the 21st century, the UN said Friday. Source: AFP 2 JUN 2017 - 8:59 PM UPDATED YESTERDAY 10:28 PM The head of the World Meteorological Organisation's atmospheric research and environment department, Deon Terblanche, underscored however that the likely impact of US President Donald Trump's widely-condemned decision remains far from clear. "We haven't run new models overnight but the indications are that it could be in the worst case scenario in the order of 0.3 degrees Celsius," Terblanche told reporters in Geneva, referring to a possible rise over pre-industrial temperatures. "That is the worst case scenario and this probably not what will happen," he added. Under the Paris deal agreed in 2015, world nations vowed steps to keep the worldwide rise in temperatures "well below" two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial times. What is the Paris Climate Agreement? [Video] The fight against climate change is "unstoppable" and nations should stick to the landmark Paris accord, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Friday after the US chose to exit the deal. "Climate change is undeniable and it is one of the biggest threats to our present world, to the future of our planet," Guterres told journalists on the sidelines of a conference in Saint Petersburg. "On the other hand, climate action is unstoppable and I urge governments around the world to stay the course, to remain committed to the implementation of the Paris agreement to the benefit of all of us," he said. The UN chief said he was "deeply convinced" that US "states, cities, the business community, the civil society will also remain engaged, will bet in the green economy". Guterres says climate action 'unstoppable' [Video] World leaders have reacted with anger and defiance after President Donald Trump announced that the United States, the world's second biggest carbon emitter, was quitting the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Led by Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Emmanuel Macron, they have branded Trump's decision as misguided and vowed to defend an accord they consider crucial to the future of the planet. The reaction comes as the EU and China moved Friday to fill the leadership void on the Paris climate pact after President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the deal, triggering a furious global backlash. Trump announced Thursday at the White House his administration would immediately stop implementing the "bad" 195-nation accord brokered by his predecessor Barack Obama in 2015 in tandem with Chinese leaders. In what could turn into a global diplomatic realignment, the European Union and China held summit talks that EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker said could be a signal to the world. "There is no reverse gear to the energy transition, there is no backsliding on the Paris agreement," Juncker said as he opened trade and climate talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Brussels. In his speech, Li warned the world would become "a jungle" without multilateral rules, though he did not mention the Paris pact specifically. Scientists warn of impacts of US decision [Video] Expressions of shock and regret came from around the world, including from Pacific islands at risk of being swallowed by rising seas and who accused Washington of "abandoning" them. In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said "China as a responsible major country would uphold the pact." China is the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter, followed by the US. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who met with Li on Thursday in Berlin, pledged "more decisive action than ever" to protect the climate after Trump's "highly regrettable" decision. Germany is the driving force behind the Europe Union's economy, one of the world's biggest with more than 500 million people. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
