Al Gore has called President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement a “reckless and indefensible action” in a blistering statement released Thursday.
“Removing the United States from the Paris Agreement is a reckless and indefensible action. It undermines America’s standing in the world and threatens to damage humanity’s ability to solve the climate crisis in time. But make no mistake: if President Trump won’t lead, the American people will,” he said. “Civic leaders, mayors, governors, CEOs, investors and the majority of the business community will take up this challenge. We are in the middle of a clean energy revolution that no single person or group can stop. President Trump’s decision is profoundly in conflict with what the majority of Americans want from our president; but no matter what he does, we will ensure that our inevitable transition to a clean energy economy continues.”
On Thursday, Trump announced that the United States would withdraw support for the Paris global climate pact in a statement from the Rose Garden on Thursday, calling it a bad deal for Americans, while promising to try to negotiate a better deal.
“The United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord, but begin negotiations to re-enter… on terms that are fair to the United States,” Trump says. “We’re getting out.”
The sure-to-be polarizing decision fulfills a campaign promise for Trump. The deal aims to fight global warming and pollution by reducing carbon emissions in nearly 200 nations.
Participant Media, the producers of “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power,” called the decision a “blow to our collective ability to fight the climate crisis in time.”
“No matter what happens, our job is to keep the momentum moving forward as quickly as we can, regardless of what stands in our path,” Participant CEO David Linde wrote in a statement.
“Inconvenient Sequel” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival the day before Trump’s inauguration, to strong reviews. The narrative climax of the project is the signing of the Paris Climate deal. It’s presently unclear if the film will see additional edits, or include Trump’s Thursday decision before its late July release.
“It’s always better to have a line of communication,” Gore had said. “In the decade I’ve been involved in this, I have encountered a lot of really difficult obstacles — and this is another difficult situation.”