Arizona representatives Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs applauded President Donald J. Trump’s formalization of the United States’ withdrawal from the 2016 Paris Climate Accords. Gosar and Biggs were joined by their fellow members of the Western Caucus, who called the withdrawal a “big win.”
At the same time, Arizona Senator Jeff Flake was criticizing Trump for his populist positions, Gosar praised Trump’s withdrawal from the Accord which he claimed gave other nations a “helping hand at the expense of the American worker.”
“After eight years of regulatory misadventure and self-imposed economic slumber our nation—thanks to President Trump—is once again setting a course for sensible energy policy,” said Gosar, chairman of the Western Caucus. “It was clear that the Agreement represented a wealth transfer from the United States to other signatory countries—nearly two hundred of them who wouldn’t have had to alter their energy and emission habits in the slightest in order to benefit from sterilized U.S. energy and resource sectors. U.S. compliance would have come with a nearly trillion dollar price tag. Now that President Trump’s State Department has formally issued notice of withdrawal to the United Nations, we are well on our way to renewed energy supremacy and a policy playbook that for once does not intentionally cripple our companies and the families that rely on them.”
“President Trump is following through on another significant promise to the American people by removing the nation from the Paris Climate Agreement. This agreement was the capstone of the Obama Administration’s attempt to circumvent the constitutional powers of Congress and the antithesis of job creation and American energy production. By withdrawing from the agreement, President Trump is signaling to foreign powers and bureaucrats that the United States will not be subject to unattainable and unproductive environmental standards that will have a detrimental effect on hard-working Americans and do not come with a guarantee of compliance from other nations. I applaud President Trump for his forward thinking, commitment to his promises, and protection of American sovereignty,” concluded Biggs.
In June, after Trump announced his intention to withdraw, Western Caucus members agreed with Trumps’ assessment that the Accord as drafted was a wealth transfer from countries like the United States to the other 194 signatories.
According to researchers at MIT, if all member nations met their obligations, the impact on the climate would be negligible. The impacts have been estimated to be likely to reduce global temperature rise by less than .2 degrees Celsius in 2100.