Clean energy era no more? The possibility of U.S. withdrawing from the 1992 Paris Agreement has come to its high point after a group of 300 climate change skeptics urged President Trump to nullify the accord.
It could be a fulfilment of President Trump's pledge made on the campaign trail but it was not expected to happen too soon if ever he will heed the call.
Re-Inventing Greenhouse?
In a Thursday letter addressed to Trump and Vice President Pence, the group of 300 led by a known climate change skeptic Richard Lindzen argued that the actions on global warming undertaken by the government since 2009 are "not scientifically justified... will continue to cause serious social and economic harm — with no environmental benefits."
The group iterated support to "effective, affordable, reasonable and direct controls on conventional environmental pollutants" but insisted that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant.
Part of the letter said that "increased atmospheric carbon dioxide is environmentally helpful to food crops and other plants that nourish all life." The argument runs counter to what was known about greenhouse gases and its effect to the environment.
Carbon dioxide is one of the chemical compounds on Earth's atmosphere. It enters the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, primary of which is coal. Other sources include solid waste, trees, wood products, and as a result of certain chemical reactions.
While it is true that carbon dioxide is food to plants, climate change scientists see the need for its level in the atmosphere to be controlled.
Global Warming Initiatives Maybe In Peril
The Paris Agreement promised to usher in an era of clean energy. The countries that ratified the agreement, the U.S. is one of them, bound themselves to take steps to make the air we breathe less deadly and to prevent the disasters global warming, if left unchecked, could bring.
All the hard-won initiatives since 1992 are at peril under Trump. U.S. defection from the agreement might encourage other countries to follow suit.
The good news is that it will take years for the U.S. to withdraw and nullify the agreement.
The Trump regime, meanwhile, may choose not to care knowing that the agreement does not impose sanctions against countries that do not meet their pollution-reduction pledges. It may continue to be in the agreement but will continue to its old polluting ways putting this planet at risk.
It is not yet clear if Trump will make good of its campaign rhetoric to nullify the agreement or stay on course to lead the way in addressing the greatest threat humanity is facing: global warming.
