Chinese premier Li Keqiang (right) with European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker. Both spoke of a commitment to tackling global warming. Credit: Francois Lenoir/Reuters

The European Union has rejected Donald Trump’s offer to renegotiate the Paris climate agreement and pledged instead to bypass Washington to work with US business leaders and state governors to implement the historic accord’s commitments.

Less than 24 hours after the US president announced his decision to withdraw from the 2015 agreement and strike a new, less ambitious deal with the rest of the world, Brussels declared its outright refusal to engage in such talks.

EU officials will instead cut out the White House to deal directly with the US states and major corporations, many of whom have already pledged to live by the terms forged in Paris.

In Britain, Theresa May faced criticism for not signing up to a joint declaration by Germany, France and Italy in opposition to the US move. A Downing Street source defended the prime minister, pointing […]

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Republican congress members

It should come as no surprise to anyone, but the administration is waging a more vigorous war against reality and oversight than Karl Rove ever thought of waging. For example, from Tiger Beat On The Potomac, we learn of the latest attempt to keep the president*’s delicate mellow unharshed.

At meetings with top officials for various government departments this spring, Uttam Dhillon, a White House lawyer, told agencies not to cooperate with such requests from Democrats, according to Republican sources inside and outside the administration. It appears to be a formalization of a practice that had already taken hold, as Democrats have complained that their oversight letters requesting information from agencies have gone unanswered since January, and the Trump administration has not yet explained the rationale. The declaration amounts to a new level of partisanship in Washington, where the president and his administration already feels besieged by media reports and attacks from Democrats. The idea, Republicans said, is to choke […]

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Chinese President Xi Jinping

It’s not hard to imagine Chinese President Xi Jinping having a wry smile at both the decision by Donald Trump to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord and the global reaction.

While President Trump’s decision had been expected, it does confirm that world leadership on efforts to limit global climate change will now shift to Asia, and China in particular.

Xi is now free to accept the mantle of global leadership on climate action, which will give him an opportunity to advance China’s interests across the world at a time when Trump’s actions are likely to cost the United States influence and allies.

The best part for Xi is that this hasn’t cost him anything, Trump has done the damage to the United States all by himself, and is most likely unaware or uncaring of the likely consequences, which go well beyond the blow to the image of the United States as a global leader.

It’s been a good past few weeks for Xi, given the successful hosting of a regional summit […]

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Credit: CNBC

President Donald Trump announced that the United States will withdraw from the Paris accord on climate change. All but two countries signed the agreement. But Trump said the deal puts the United States at a disadvantage.

“The United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord,” Trump said June 1, 2017, “but begin negotiations to re-enter either the Paris accord or an entirely new transaction on terms that are fair to the United States.”

The Paris accord had several ambitious goals. Signatories agreed to do their part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and keep the world’s temperature to just 1.5 degrees Celsius above what it was before industrial production took root.

Each country set its own targets, with reductions to begin in 2020. By mid century, the goal would be zero greenhouse gas emissions.

President Barack Obama had pledged to reduce emissions by 26 percent to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.

Wealthy nations agreed to provide $100 million a year to help developing countries move away from fossil fuels and use more renewable power supplies.

We […]

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