World reacts to Trump withdrawing US from Paris climate pact

[Gunnar]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/wo ... f989&ei=37

This foolish, ignorant decision by Trump will only hurt American wealth and competitiveness.

SIMON STIELL, U.N. CLIMATE CHANGE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

"Embracing (the global clean energy boom) will mean massive profits, millions of manufacturing jobs and clean air. Ignoring it only sends all that vast wealth to competitor economies, while climate disasters like droughts, wildfires and superstorms keep getting worse, destroying property and businesses, hitting nation-wide food production, and driving economy-wide price inflation.

"The door remains open to the Paris Agreement, and we welcome constructive engagement from any and all countries."

WOPKE HOEKSTRA, EU CLIMATE COMMISSIONER

"It's a truly unfortunate development that the world’s largest economy, and one of our closest allies in the fight against climate change, is withdrawing from the Paris Agreement.

"Despite this setback, we remain committed to working with the U.S. and our international partners to address the pressing issue of climate change... The Paris Agreement has strong foundations and is here to stay."

ALI MOHAMED, CHAIR OF THE AFRICA GROUP IN U.N. CLIMATE NEGOTIATIONS AND KENYA'S CLIMATE ENVOY

"The leadership of the United States is critical in mobilising climate finance, advancing clean energy transitions, and ensuring the equitable implementation of global climate goals. Equally important is the need to promote multilateralism as the foundation for addressing climate change and other global challenges."

EVANS NJEWA, CHAIR OF THE LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES GROUP IN U.N. CLIMATE NEGOTIATIONS

"We deeply regret U.S.A. plans to exit from the Paris Agreement. This threatens to reverse hard-won gains in reducing emissions & puts our vulnerable countries at greater risk. The Paris Agreement remains a vital climate pact & we must protect it for the future of our planet & generation."

NEW YORK GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL AND NEW MEXICO GOVERNOR MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM, CO-CHAIRS OF THE U.S. CLIMATE ALLIANCE

"Our states and territories continue to have broad authority under the U.S. Constitution to protect our progress and advance the climate solutions we need. This does not change with a shift in federal administration ... It's critical for the international community to know that climate action will continue in the U.S. The Alliance will bring this message to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Brazil (COP30) later this year."

ANI DASGUPTA, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE

"It simply makes no sense for the United States to voluntarily give up political influence and pass up opportunities to shape the exploding green energy market. Sitting on the sidelines also means the United States will have fewer levers to hold other major economies accountable for living up to their commitments."

LAURENCE TUBIANA, CEO OF THE EUROPEAN CLIMATE FOUNDATION AND A KEY ARCHITECT OF THE PARIS AGREEMENT

"The context today is very different to 2017. There is unstoppable economic momentum behind the global transition, which the U.S. has gained from and led, but now risks forfeiting."

ABBY MAXMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF OXFAM AMERICA

"The U.S. should be leading the fight for a livable planet - not only because of its responsibility as the largest historical polluter, but because ignoring the problem at our doorstep will harm people living in the United States, who have recently suffered severe damage from climate-driven disasters like the Los Angeles wildfires and will face even more in the years ahead."

(Reporting by Valerie VolcoviciEditing by Paul Simao and Peter Graff)

There is nothing that would do more to enhance the economic prosperity and prestige of our nation than taking the lead in transitioning to environmentally sound renewable energy. Failure to do so will inevitably hurt both our prestige and economic competitiveness in the world.

If anyone in the current administration understands this, Elon Musk surely does. It would be incredibly foolish of him to not make Trump aware of this, especially since much of his wealth and influence is due to the success of his EVs in the marketplace.

[Gunnar]

As if it was not already bad enough, Trump's idiotically vindictive vendetta against wind turbines makes things even worse.

Cost-competitiveness puts wind in front
Global offshore wind market scores all time high – market up 95%
Today wind power is the most competitively priced technology in many if not most markets worldwide. The emergence of wind/solar hybrids, more sophisticated grid management and increasingly affordable storage begin to paint a picture of what a fully commercial fossil-free power sector will look like.

25 April Brussels – The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) released its Global Wind Report: Annual Market Update today, showing a maturing industry successfully competing in the marketplace, even against heavily subsidized traditional power generation technologies. More than 52GW of clean, emissions-free wind power was added in 2017, bringing total installations to 539 GW globally. With new records set in Europe, India and in the offshore sector, annual markets will resume rapid growth after 2018.

“Wind power is leading the charge in the transition away from fossil fuels; and continues to blow away the competition on price, performance and reliability”, said Steve Sawyer, GWEC Secretary General. “Both onshore and offshore, wind power is key to defining a sustainable energy future”.

Dramatic price reductions for both onshore and offshore wind continue to surprise. Markets in Morocco, India, Mexico and Canada range in the area of US$ 0.03/kWh, with a recent Mexican tender coming in with prices well below US$ 0.02/kWh. Meanwhile offshore wind had its first ‘subsidy-free’ bids in tenders In Germany and the Netherlands, with tenders for nearly 2 GW of new offshore wind capacity receiving no more than the wholesale price of electricity.

GWEC’s rolling 5-year forecast puts the 2018 market at a similar level as 2017, as the dominant EU markets in Germany and the UK will face reductions due to changing regulatory environments, and India’s market will drop temporarily due to a ‘policy gap’ between the old and new systems; but the sector will return to dramatic growth in 2019, will pass the 60 GW milestone in 2020, and move upwards from there to reach a total of 840 GW by 2022.

“We have a booming new market in Argentina, a return to form in South Africa, Mexico on the verge of dramatic growth, and a powerhouse building in India”, said Sawyer. ‘We see huge potential just beginning to be realised in Russia, Vietnam and even Saudi Arabia; and offshore is spreading like wildfire across the globe due to Europe’s patient, pioneering efforts to bring the technology to cost-competitiveness.”

The US market is projected to remain strong at least through 2020, and probably beyond, and Brazil will continue to dominate Latin American markets, although with a new challenger from Argentina. New markets continue to emerge in Africa and Asia, although China will continue to be the dominant market globally, but with less spectacular growth than in the past decade.

Wind penetration levels continue to increase rapidly. Denmark got 44% of its electricity from wind in 2017, and Uruguay more than 30%. In 2017, wind supplied 11.6% of the EU’s power, led by Denmark, Portugal and Ireland at 24% and Spain and Germany just under 20%. Four US states get more than 30% of their electricity from wind, as does the state of South Australia, and a number of states in Germany.

“Driven by the improving economics of wind power, as well as solar and storage, the outlines of a 100% renewable energy system are becoming clear”, concluded Sawyer.

Contrary to Trump's lies, there is no credible evidence that wind turbines are causing whales to beach themselves all over the world, and his claim that they cause cancer is as moronic as it can be. And the number of birds killed by them is a small fraction of the birds killed by feral cats and crashing into the windows of high-rise buildings. Unfortunately, the stupider his claims, the more stubbornly he doubles down on repeating them!

[Gunnar]

Trump signs executive order pausing wind turbine leases, could impact Midwest

This will certainly add to inflation by increasing energy costs for many people.

Efforts to restrict onshore wind could be at odds with the current energy situation in those states.

“States voting for President Trump are eight of the top ten states in terms of reliance on wind power with many depending on wind for a significant share of their electricity use. Restricting wind development in these regions is certain to increase consumer energy bills," said American Clean Power Association CEO Jason Grumet in a statement.

[Dr Exiled]

Maybe Trump believes this latest temperature map from the last 500 million years:

[Moksha]

Maybe Trump believes this latest temperature map from the last 500 million years:

It's not likely unless there was something in it for him. I doubt Europe will be surprised when he pulls out of NATO.

[I Have Questions]

Trump has friends in the oil business who will give him money for doing this. That's the limit of his thought process.

[I Have Questions]

Maybe Trump believes this latest temperature map from the last 500 million years:

It's not likely unless there was something in it for him. I doubt Europe will be surprised when he pulls out of NATO.

Isolating America from the rest of the world isn't the great idea that Trump thinks it is. All he sees is a grand money-making scheme for himself, personally. He thinks he calls all the shots, globally. A NATO without the USA will simply create a vacuum for Russia and China to step into. China in particular has already forged good relationships within Eastern Europe. Imagine a NATO style agreement between Europe, Russia, and China, with Africa following shortly after...Trump is taking America on a fast walk along a short plank.

[¥akaSteelhead]

China is leading the world in green energy innovation. The rest of the developed world is moving that way with or without us. Without us just gives China increasing dominance in the electrical segment of the energy sector. Doubling down on o&g will just serve to leave us pariahs and further behind the ball on the greatly growing sector.

[Gunnar]

China is leading the world in green energy innovation. The rest of the developed world is moving that way with or without us. Without us just gives China increasing dominance in the electrical segment of the energy sector. Doubling down on o&g will just serve to leave us pariahs and further behind the ball on the greatly growing sector.

Sadly, even if climate change really were the hoax Trump stubbornly believes it is, there are tremendous potential profits and both economic and environmental advantages to being in the forefront of transitioning to renewable energy. If we fall behind in that compared to the rest of the world, it bodes very ill for our country's power, prosperity, respect and prestige in the world. The countries pursuing and developing the green innovation are on track to become the wealthiest and most prosperous countries that have ever existed. China, in particular, is likely to become the most dominant and unassailable superpower that has ever been, putting our proud and once respected country in the shade!

[¥akaSteelhead]

Yep, the world is headed that direction with or without us. Few years back China realized that becoming the #1 producer of greenhouse emissions was not an enviable position as they were being lambasted for it in international media. So they invested hugely in green energy. They are on track to be 75%ish green by 20230. If I am recalling correctly they were 50% green last year. They lead also though in EVs, solar technology, and battery production - couple that with their dominance in energy infrastructure at large, transformers and what not needed for distribution and transmission, and it is to me more of a security risk than say, tik tok, but we aren't doing anything to really address the risk.