When President Donald Trump moved to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord as one of his first acts in the office, he described the agreement as unfair to America.
Nevertheless, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden made it clear this week that he would begin the process of re-entering the international accord if he is elected in November, as reported by Breitbart. The former vice president made his remarks on Monday during a stop at the Delaware Museum of Natural History in Wilmington.
“I’ll challenge every other country”
Asserting that President Donald Trump “turns against our allies” by pulling out of the agreement, he insisted that he would “bring us back into” the accord.
“I’ll put us back into the business of leading the world on climate change,” he added. “And I’ll challenge every other country to up the ante on climate commitments.”
His remarks were especially timely as raging wildfires across much of the Western U.S. brings new attention to the issue of climate change.
“We need a president who respects science, who understands that the damage from climate change is already here,” Biden said. “And unless we take urgent action, it will soon be more catastrophic.”
Of course, Trump took a different approach when he visited California to survey the damage of the destructive blazes, citing what he deemed an insufficient forest management plan within the impacted forestland.
“Like a matchstick”
“When trees fall down after a short period of time, they become very dry – really like a matchstick … and they can explode,” he said on Monday, as reported by USA Today.
Even on the topic of climate change, however, the U.S. is hardly an international villain as some on the left might suggest in the wake of its withdrawal from the Paris accord. In fact, it has outperformed a host of other developed nations that remain in the coalition when it comes to reducing emissions.
The Texas Policy Foundation issued a report last year explaining how various nations stack up in this regard.
“Only seven countries are on track to meet their emission targets, and many of the Paris Agreement’s signatories have actually increased their carbon dioxide emissions,” the report stated. “Meanwhile, the United States has cut more total carbon dioxide emissions than any other nation,” it continued. “From 2008 to 2018, our energy-related emissions fell by 9% when the rest of the world increased their emissions by 17%.”
Whether included in the international accord or not, it is going to be hard for Democrats to argue that the Trump administration has been a failure on climate change if they are forced to address the cold, hard facts.
The post Biden vows to 'bring us back into' Paris Climate Accord if elected first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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