WASHINGTON, D.C. — Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley slammed president Donald J. Trump on Monday over his initiation of a U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate Agreement.
“Today’s decision represents an embarrassing and shameful abandonment of U.S. leadership on the global stage” he said in a written statement.
Though Trump has been vocal about his intention to withdraw, terms of the agreement—which went into effect Nov 4 2016, would not allow for it till this year.
Merkley, a member of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis, said the withdrawal would not only be “terrible for America’s moral standing in the world” but would also “sabotage” the nation’s economy.
His statement went on to stress the importance of leading the “clean energy revolution” as a nation, noting that this will lead to “growing jobs and prosperity.” Condemning the withdrawal as a “massive failure of leadership” he called upon the president to “quit damaging the American economy, and reverse course on this reckless and reprehensible decision.”
Because the withdrawal will not become official for another year, should Trump lose the election, his opponent would have the ability to shift course.
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