Last week, President Trump announced he would withdraw the United States from the Paris Accord on Climate Change. In a speech in the White House Rose Garden, Trump claimed the global carbon emissions pact, signed by over 195 nations, would “undermine our economy, hamstring our workers, weaken our sovereignty … and put us at a permanent disadvantage to the other countries of the world,” Trump went on to say, “We don’t want other countries and leaders to laugh at us anymore.”
The decision dismayed not only world heads of state and environmental activists, but major business leaders as well. Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric said on Twitter: “Disappointed with today’s decision on the Paris Agreement. Climate change is real. Industry must now lead and not depend on government,”
Joining Eight O’Clock Buzz host Brian Standing with reactions to Trump’s move, are Jason Kowalski (by phone), National Policy Director for 350.org and professor Jonathan Patz (in the studio), Director of the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin Madison.
