Pros And Cons Of The Paris Accord

Which comes first? The United States or the world? A simple question with a very difficult answer in regards to the Paris climate accord, an agreement for environmental action to address the threat of global warming, which has been signed by 195 nations. As for whether the United States will be joining those nations, the answer is “No” as Mr. Trump decided that “We’re getting out,” of the Paris climate accord. “The Paris accord will undermine [The United States’] economy,” said Mr. Trump who wanted to renegotiate the “Unfair” terms placed on America before agreeing to the accord (Michael). Naturally, the decision sparked a great controversy across the United States, and across the world, with the two sides of the argument boiling down to

Should the wellbeing of the United States come before the wellbeing of other countries or should it not?

For those in agreement with Mr. Trump, America needs to fix its own problems before it solve the issues of others. In particular, there are two main reasons why some Americans found the Paris accord unappealing and why Mr. Trump was correct in withdrawing from it. First of all, if the United States were to continue with the Paris climate accord, the United States would have been would be required to reduce fossil fuel emissions nearly 30 percent by 2025 (“Paris Agreement”). By the year 2035, such a reduction in the energy industry could have unwanted consequences such as: a total gross domestic product (GDP) loss of over $2.5 trillion, an increase of electrical costs of up to 20 percent, and an overall average loss of 400,000 jobs (Dayaratna). Furthermore, even if the United States were to completely eliminate its carbon emission, the global temperature would only