Paris Agreements Pros And Cons

On September 3, 2016, former President Barack Obama, formally entered the United States into the Paris Agreement, an international and environmental pact, to which there are currently 174 countries committed (obamawhitehouse). The Paris Agreement is a global wide contract, aimed at protecting the earth’s climate and environment, with nations working in unison to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. On June 1, 2017, current President Donald Trump, who often denounces climate change, announced his decision to withdraw the United States from this agreement (nytimes). The United States, should re-commit to the Paris Accord, re-entering into this agreement would be significantly beneficial for the environment. This treaty’s main purpose is to protect

These 55 nations’ goal was to work in unison to implement greener energy sources, hoping to help curtail the rising global temperatures and reduce our carbon emissions. A pivotal number throughout this agreement was 2 degrees, a goal number with which they hoped to decrease global temperatures in a 5-year time period. While a seemingly low number, an increase of temperature even by a few degrees can have devastating effects on sea levels and smaller island nations and coastal cities (npr). This accord aims to assist developing counties as they lack the resources to update to cleaner emitting sources and lack the funding to rebuild when global warming effects ravage their countries. The United States and China are the two largest contributors to global pollution, producing 45% of the world’s carbon footprint. Under the Obama administration a goal was set to reduce greenhouse emissions from 26% to 28% by the year 2025 (businessinsider). An Executive Order implementing the Paris Agreement was signed under Obama, however it was not submitted to Congress for approval, leaving an opening for the agreement to be dismantled by current President

A 2016 Pew poll showed that “48% of Americans believed that the Earth was warming because of human activity, and 49% believed an international agreement to limit carbon emissions could make a big difference in addressing climate change.” A more recent poll in 2017, by Gallup, found that “45% of Americans worried "a great deal" about global warming and 68% believed humans were causing it” (businessinsider). Prior to withdrawing from the agreement, the United States had pledged three billion dollars for funding which was the largest contribution to the Accord, but on a per-capita basis, much less than many other counties. Money invested to the Paris Accord is currently being used to help establish irrigation and groundwater systems in India, where previous monsoon rains have lessened and left this country with a lack of clean water resources. It is also being used to help replace diesel generators in the Solomon Islands, installing ecofriendly hydroelectric power plants, and helping to restore farmland in the Ugandan wetlands