350.org on US Withdrawal From the Paris Climate Agreement

Today marks the day the Trump administration can officially begin withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, a move he's expected to make. The process would take an entire year, leading to the day after the 2020 U.S. Presidential elections. Trump first announced he would withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement on June 1, 2017.

Since then, an unprecedented number of people in the U.S. and worldwide have taken action demanding transformative climate action to go beyond the Paris Agreement: from the 2017 Peoples Climate March, the 7.6-million-strong Global Climate Strikes, Congressional sit-ins, the announcement of fossil fuel divestment commitments surpassing $11 trillion in assets, escalating local and state climate action campaigns, and much more.

Responding to the withdrawal, May Boeve, Executive Director of 350.org, said:

"Donald Trump is sending a signal to the world that there will be no leadership from the US federal government on the climate crisis - a catastrophic message in a moment of great urgency. While the Trump administration relentlessly works to roll back efforts to confront climate breakdown, a majority of people in the United States understand the need to address this crisis head-on.

"There's dangerous regression from the Trump administration, but there is plenty of leadership everywhere else: young people leading with great courage; the 7.6 million people who joined the Global Climate Strikes; wise investors shifting trillions of dollars out of coal, oil, gas companies; liability in courtrooms, and tribunals as the likes of Exxon are called to pay for the harm they've caused; and more. The moral outrage at this decision will be a powerful catalyst for action."

350.org North America Director Tamara Toles O'Laughlin said,

"Trump is torching our future so fossil fuel billionaires can pull a profit while the rest of us pay the price. When Trump first said he'd quit Paris, our message was for elected officials and decision-makers to pledge 'we are still in,' and double down on commitments for climate action. That's still our expectation of all global officials: to heed demands of the people for transformative climate action. In the U.S., elected officials at the state and city levels must take action beyond the commitments of the Paris Agreement.

"The demand for climate action cannot be ignored, and Trump's neglect of the will of the people won't change that. Beyond the Paris Climate Agreement, we're not going to stop until we get a Green New Deal that ends fossil fuels and makes the industry pay for care and repair, prioritizing frontline communities and workers in the transition."

Katie Eder, 19-year-old Executive Director of Future Coalition, the youth coalition that coordinated the US Climate Strikes, said,

"Trump has made it clear that he is going to continue to put the wants of large corporations and fossil fuel executives above the lives and futures of our generation. We're asking that elected officials at all levels maintain commitments to the Paris Climate Agreement and end the fossil fuel era once and for all. We will continue to strike, rally, and march so that elected officials hear that message. And come November, if they don't listen, we are prepared to vote them out."