On June 1, U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord and begin negotiations to either re-enter or negotiate an entirely new agreement with more favorable terms for the United States. Trump said the Paris Climate Accord cost the U.S. economy nearly $3 trillion in reduced output, over 6 million industrial jobs, and more than 3 million manufacturing jobs.
“This agreement is less about the climate and more about other countries gaining a financial advantage over the United States,” Trump said. “The rest of the world applauded when we signed the Paris Agreement — they went wild; they were so happy — for the simple reason that it put our country, the United States of America, which we all love, at a very, very big economic disadvantage. A cynic would say the obvious reason for economic competitors and their wish to see us remain in the agreement is so that we continue to suffer this self-inflicted major economic wound. We would find it very hard to compete with other countries from other parts of the world.”
MacLennan called the president’s decision to withdraw from the agreement “extremely disappointing.”
“Exiting international accords like the Paris Agreement will negatively impact trade, economic vitality, the state of our environment, and relationships amongst the world community,” he said. “And it positions the U.S. as an outlier on this important issue. It would have resulted in U.S. economic growth and job creation.
“That said, we have no intention of backing away from our efforts to address climate change in the food and agriculture supply chains around the world and in fact this will inspire us to work even harder. Caring about sustainability of the planet is not only the right thing to do for people and the environment, it is also good business.”
