AEF Petitions US: Withdraw from Paris Agreement

AEF joined 41 other think tanks who joined together in a letter to Donald Trump urging him to withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Change Treaty.  The letter's lead sponsor was Myron Ebell from the Competitive Enterprise Institute, who headed up the President's transition team on the environment.  All institutions other than AEF are US based.

The text of the letter suggests the following alternatives to President Trump.  

First, you could submit the Paris Climate Treaty to the Senate for its advice and consent with a recommendation that the treaty not be ratified. Submitting the treaty to the Senate would return us to and restore the proper constitutional method for treaty-making and require a future administration to go through proper procedures if it were to attempt to rejoin the treaty.

Second, you could withdraw from the underlying UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This action would also achieve your commitment to “stop all payments of the United States tax dollars to UN global warming programs,” including the Green Climate Fund, which is a part of the UNFCCC.

Third, you could announce your intention to withdraw the U. S. from the Paris Climate Treaty according to the four-year schedule specified in the treaty and continue the process of repealing the regulations that the previous administration submitted as part of its NDC. This option is the least preferable because it runs the risk of legitimizing the Obama administration’s false claim that the treaty is merely an executive agreement.

The undersigned organizations believe that withdrawing completely from Paris is a key part of your plan to protect U.S. energy producers and manufacturers from regulatory warfare not just for the next four years but also for decades to come. We will strongly support your decision to keep your campaign commitment to withdraw from the Paris Climate Treaty. READ LETTER