Guest post by David Middleton
Science & Environment
Juncker rejects US climate deal re-negotiation
By Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent
14 June 2017
The European Commission President said: “We have spent 20 years negotiating”, and now was the time for implementation.
US President Trump has claimed that the accord could be amended and made more palatable to his country.
[…]
“The European Union will not renegotiate the Paris Agreement,” Mr Juncker said.
“The 29 articles of the agreement must be implemented and not renegotiated. Climate action does not need more distractions. We have spent 20 years negotiating. Now it is the time for action. Now it is the time for implementation.”
The president of the Marshall Island, Hilda Heine, also addressed the parliamentarians, meeting in Strasbourg. She re-iterated her view that the Paris agreement was set in stone.
“We cannot do better (than Paris), and we don’t have the luxury of more time,” she said.
She urged the EU member states and other countries to use the three years before the US pulls out of Paris to try to convince President Trump of the importance of climate action.
She also called on Europe to adopt harder goals when it comes to cutting emissions of carbon dioxide.
“We will not stay within 1.5C unless Europe and others move before 2020 to raise ambition.” The bloc should adopt five-year climate targets instead of the current 10-year plans, she said.
By a huge majority the EU Parliament voted on Wednesday in favour of binding national targets for cutting emissions from areas including transport, agriculture and waste management. These areas are not covered by Europe’s emissions trading scheme.
[…]
So much material in such a short article.
An agreement that has no enforcement mechanism and allows its participants to set and revise their own emissions targets is “set in stone”… Riiight.
“We cannot do better than Paris”… But we must do better than Paris… Even though it’s “set in stone”… Riiight.
At least there’s a bright side. After President Trump wisely withdrew these United States from the Paris agreement, “by a huge majority the EU Parliament voted on Wednesday in favour of binding national targets for cutting emissions from areas including transport, agriculture and waste management.”
Talk about a win-win deal! President Trump decides to not shoot our economy in the foot… And the EU volunteers to shoot their economy in both feet!
“The worst thing you can possibly do in a deal is seem desperate to make it. That makes the other guy smell blood, and then you’re dead.”
—Donald J. Trump, The Art of the Deal
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“The European Union will not renegotiate the Paris Agreement,” Mr Juncker said.
====
That is a great response from Trump’s point of view. He can just walk away. No need to waste any more of his time and USA $$$$$.
Hold Juncker to his word.
Interesting that the EU vote to impale itself further on the Paris accord was “nearly unanimous”. I wonder which countries had the sense to drag their feet?
Is the congressman interview really genuine? If so I think it is terrifying that someone in such high office can say something like that. Surely he needs removing from office to a place of safety for his and all our sakes.
We are all doomed it seems, Europe and America alike. At least it won’t be global warming that gets us-just stupidity.
The best part of this fiasco is that the signatories seem to believe that the U S can’t opt out of the Accords for another three years because that’s the agreement that 0bama signed. Flash to the world, 0bama ain’t in charge and the Accords ain’t a treaty ratified by the Senate. They just don’t get how the U S works.
Trump could have stayed in the agreement and simply ignored it or he could have revised our emissions targets upwards or he could have submitted it to the Senate for ratification, where it would be voted down.
Instead he pulled out and said he’d be willing to consider coming back in if he could renegotiate a better deal for us.
I’m glad that they refuse to renegotiate the Paris Accord. If they were open to renegotiate it then the US might consider signing back on.
“We’ve spent twenty years negotiating it. Why should we let you negotiate it again, when your only purpose is to find something wrong with it?”
“The European Union will not renegotiate the Paris Agreement,” Mr Juncker said.
When Trump pulled out of the Paris Agreement, it was the end of the world. One magazine even wrote an obituary for the planet. What does it tell you when they won’t renegotiate to stop the world from ending? Even they don’t believe their own hype.
“Talk about a win-win deal! President Trump decides to not shoot our economy in the foot… And the EU volunteers to shoot their economy in both feet!”
Not by a long shot. The EU volunteers to shoot itself in the foot followed by the head.
I wonder how many participants, if any, Trump will send to this year’s tea party in Bonn? A quick check of the participants list for COP21 in Paris showed there were 146 party goers including Obama. Excluding POTUS and his entourage, the cost must have been well over $1m.
I ashamed to say that New Zealand where I come from sent 37 people to the party – way more on a per capita basis than the US.
I admit to being a bit concerned when President Trump said he wanted to renegotiate – he might have actually managed to get a (somewhat less) crippling piece of garbage past the Congress.
Now I can sleep better, though. The Kameraden of the Socialist States of Europe have pounded their desks and screamed “Nyet!!!” They will soon be back in the Sixth Century economically, and socially under Sharia.
Perhaps time to expand that travel ban to a few more countries…
I think that they think that Donald Trump is not going to be there in 2 or 3 years time…. They are counting on him being “removed”.
The stakes are now sky high for them. Without the funding and regulatory frame work of “Climate Change”, the Globalist Socialists will not be able to fund their Global Socialism or exert control over recalcitrant countries.
These Socialist fanatics are now all in….. That is why Republicans are being shot at charity baseball games and conservative speakers attacked at universities or beaten in the streets. The Socialists are determined not to let us speak and if they can’t stop us from speaking, they will escalate their violence.
It’s only one side of politics doing this….. The Socialist Democrats and their foreign globalist ilk.
Trump needs to apply the constitution and the law…. and be utterly steadfast in that application.
The great thing about not being a member of the scary global warming church is that we have been subjected to the same playbook currently on display throughout the national political and social scene . No debate , just polarized intolerance of anyone else’s perspective . Global warming , global governance
motivated by money .
It has gotten so bad that as soon as you see things like …. Sources close to , or government officials (without names that is ) you know that it is just made up crap . NYT , WAPo, CNN have become unhinged ,
In fact you have to give Al Gore credit because he would often reference some obscure scientist as the source for his prophesy’s of doom . Arctic ice disappearing for example . Having no scientific credentials himself at least at times he tried to create the elusion of sound scientific conscientious but without pointing out the high degree of uncertainty . For example climate models which are used to underscore the climate Armageddon have been proven to be grossly inaccurate and consistently overstating warming projections.
There have been some complete bullshit statements like “the climate has a fever” which belay the desperation of a failing fear campaign .
President Trump is the peoples chance to stop the ship from sinking but it’s tougher when mutineers pump water into the boat .
Sweden just passed a law committing itself to a target more ambitious than its Paris commitment:
https://qz.com/1007833/swedens-climate-act-legally-commits-the-country-to-reach-net-zero-emissions-by-2045/
India just announced it expects to meet, indeed surpass, its agreemnt 3 years early@ur momisugly
https://cleantechnica.com/2017/06/14/india-joins-renewable-energy-revolution-increases-emissions-reduction-pledge/
I see also US got 10% of all electricity from wind and solar in March…
Things moving on, even in the US!
8% wind, 2% solar (mostly in the PRC)…
The other 90% came from natural gas, coal, nuclear, hydro, etc.
Wind is highly seasonal. It tends tp peak in spring and/or fall. There are days when Texas gets over 50% of its generation from wind. If days, weeks, months or seasons were relevant to electricity generation, the EIA article would be relevant.
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=31632
But you can see the way this is going… every year more solar and more wind than the year before comes online. And more coal plants retire.
Great potential here. Some parts of the middle of the US have 45% wind capacity and then there’s offshore. There’s much more solar to exploit: Nevada just changed its tariff it pays to domestic solar owners back to market rate, for example.
I can see the way it’s going. Oil and natural gas will continue to be the dominant energy sources for decades to come…
https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/pdf/0383(2017).pdf
Once again Griffie actually believes that because a trend exists, that it will continue forever.
Whereas Mark, you seem to believe a trend you don’t like can be ignored and a political direction you don’t like is lies, not a statement of intent.
a trend is a statistical thing, based on real world figures. People like India are delivering on their promises, as you can see from multiple sources recording their energy use.
There is no underlying reason why the downward coal trend should reverse
Funny thing about Griff. He actually believes that the statements of politicians take precedence over reality.
IE, if a politician says something can be done, then it can be done. Period. No questions allowed.
but then I check the information about how many solar panels (for example) are being installed…
Or are you trying to tell me you don’t trust what President Trump says he will do ! ? !
Ah yes, politicians are paying people to put up solar panels, and this proves that solar panels will eventually take over electricity production.
It took 20 years to create a 25 page document with 29 articles. They can’t do anything unless everyone (the US) signs, agrees, and abides. Here’s to another 20 years of nothing.
Why yes let’s commit to increased poverty and decreased GDP as soon as we can. It’s a no-brainer!
Members of the Scary Global Warming Church are free to donate as much as they want to the religion of their choice . How much are the very wealthy global warming preachers giving up of their wealth ?
Have they sold their waterfront mansions and stopped using fossil fuels entirely ?
If you go to a church and the leader says don’t do something yet they are doing it x 100 why would you listen to them ? The church of global warming is run by hypocrites .
Why haven’t they set up a pledge /donation fund for their flock ?
You know show you are a believer . I am sure they have thought about it and even tried it but the real interest wouldn’t even buy donuts for the congregation .
Come on people like Gore , Suzuki, Nye , DiCaprio lets see all those properties you own sold and donated to stop the planets fever . What’s that …. silence .
These ordinary folk are putting their money in renewables…
https://energytransition.org/2013/10/citizens-own-half-of-german-renewables/
Not these people however…
http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/service/strom-350-000-haushalte-mit-stromsperre-a-1062889.html
“Socially Explosive …More Than 1 Million German Households Had Power Shut Off Over Past Three Years!”
It would be interesting to see how that 51% of private investors breaks down. Is that 51% consist entirely of small investors? The article does not state any facts on how many investors are in that 51%.
It’s on them and a big win for Trump.