Michael Bastasch | Energy Editor
President Donald Trump said France’s new round of violent protests showed the Paris climate accord “isn’t working out so well” as thousands of “yellow vests” clashed with police Saturday.
“The Paris Agreement isn’t working out so well for Paris,” Trump tweeted Saturday morning as France prepared for another wave of violent protests in Paris over President Emmanuel Macron’s policies.
“Protests and riots all over France. People do not want to pay large sums of money, much to third world countries (that are questionably run), in order to maybe protect the environment. Chanting ‘We Want Trump!’ Love France,” Trump tweeted.
For weeks, tens of thousands of French have risen up to oppose planned hikes to carbon taxes on diesel and gasoline as part of Macron’s climate agenda. Carbon taxes provided the spark for what’s morphed into protests against Macron’s attempts to revamp France’s economy.
Thousands of protesters, called “yellow vests” for the safety jackets European law mandates all drivers have on hand, stormed the Champs-Elysées for another round of protests. The entire city is basically shut down, including major tourist attractions.
Youths and high school students attend a demonstration to protest against the French government’s reform plan, in Paris, France, December 7, 2018. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier.
French riot police face off with youth and high school students during a protest against the French government’s reform plan, in Bordeaux, France, December 6, 2018. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau.
The government deployed thousands of police officers in preparation for Saturday’s protests. Paris protesters clashed with police on Saturday, who used tear gas and water cannons to corral protesters and arrest hundreds.
Macron initially resisted compromise, saying increased fuel taxes were needed to cut France’s reliance on oil, which is part of his plan to comply with the Paris climate accord. Macron wants to reduce France’s use of nuclear power and fossil fuels in exchange for solar and wind.
The French government caved to protesters’ demands Wednesday, opting to scrap the carbon tax hikes entirely. (RELATED: France May Be Ahead Of The Curve When It Comes To Global Warming Policy Backlash)
Trump claimed the protests showed the problems with the Paris climate accord, which the president said he would withdraw from in 2020 — the earliest available date to do so.
However, several media outlets said Trump was wrong to claim that protesters chanted “we want Trump” as they marched. AFP and The Associated Press rated the claim as false, saying it stemmed from a video of a protest in the U.K. in June, not France.
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Trump wins again…! : )
“We do not take domestic American politics into account and we want that to be reciprocated,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told LCI television.
“I say this to Donald Trump and the French president says it too: leave our nation be.”
Trump being smug on Global Warming is an encouraging sign.
I wonder how many US citizens feel they are lucky to have seen the light on the Global Warming scam or is there a greater leaning to the view that the inmates are in charge of the asylum?
There riots are the only way the globalists could get temperatures to go UP!
When the French people complained about rising fuel taxes, Macron reportedly said the people should carpool.
Instead of “Let Them Eat Cake!” it is now “Let Them Carpool!”
I guess Macron didn’t realize that the French people don’t like their concerns to be dismissed with such a flippant remark. It makes them feel like Macro doesn’t really care and doesn’t really understand their situation.
Macron crapped his own bed by reducing taxation on companies and high-earners.
Then tried raising taxation on consumption and lower-earners.
Nothing (much) to do with “climate change”, which is just another closet-excuse now.
Macron in the quite common neoliberal who pretends to be “man of the people”.
The UK is another story entirely; having voted to leave the EU, it now finds that it has no idea how to do so, without sinking the economy. In fact, every way of leaving has serious downsides.
Eventually, we may get around to staying, if the entrenched financial interests that are looking forward to the brexit fire-sale can be sufficiently subdued, or eliminated.
Like everything, it all comes down to money: Who has it. Who spends it. Where they get it from. Who pays taxes on it.
If the French government really things that the use of fossil fuels is bad then they should make it illegal to make use of any goods and services that have made use of fossil fuels and that includes all goods moved by truck or motorized ships. They should first try that in the government sector before they unleash it on the general population. Taxation is not necessary to get this done.
True, they could limit every vehicle to a certain number of kilometers every day then the vehicle just turns off. That might work.
/s
Read and learn about the connection between climate change and illegal economic migration. This is why COP24 is needed. Sorting out one helps to resolve the other. Trump cannot see this connection between droughts and the starvation they bring: https://mankindsdegradationofplanetearth.com/2018/12/11/one-suspected-driver-of-the-caravan-climate-change-cnnpolitics/
Nuts. Migration is caused by the imperial slaughter of various countries, the IMF’s debt enslavement being the other side of the coin.
Now the very same crowd that caused the 2008 crash warn of an even bigger crash caused by climate, not them!
You really could’nt make this flatulence up.
What on earth are you dribbling on about?
Macron may have misread the situation with the yellow vests who might be justified in protesting rising living costs- but on one thing he is right and that is the increase in diesel fuel prices. About 20% of French vehicles run on diesel which, given the very large health care costs resulting from atmospheric pollution in cities and towns, is completely absurd. He is right to want to wean the French driver off diesel – the sooner the better. In fact all diesel cars need to be eventually banned in Europe.
Straight from Keynes who wrote in his original preface that his brilliant ideas could only be undertaken in total state – namely Germany in the 1930’s.
Imposing fascism in the name of CO2 is the game, a losers game.
The socalled climate disasters have one thing in common: unsustainable population growth. In Africa for instance it still exceeds economic growth. Can not end well.
Dr. John Schellnhuber awarded his CBE personally by QE in 2004 for loudly touting an optimum population of 2 billion. Remember he is the Royally decorated decarbonizer , the Great Transformer.
The inconvenient 5 billion people to be erased would make Goering blush.
Surely does not mean that the consequences of adding 5 billion desperately poor people should be blamed on climate change?
The government forced them to use diesel to reduce CO2 emissions from petrol, now you blame the people for using diesel. They are mad because they were told to use diesel to save the planet from CO2 and now the government is taxing the very diesel they have to use (plus the car manufacturers fiddled the emissions testing)
Ivan
What healthcare costs? Already shown to be nonsense in the UK after medics complained of 40,000 deaths caused by diesel particulates. Not one single death certificate of those noted were recorded as dying from diesel particulates.
The deaths were all caused by recognised medical conditions but the subjective judgement of some medics was that particulates hastened death from minutes to a few days earlier than expected.
An impossible assessment to substantiate.
Everything is caused by CO2. Even things that have happened millions of times before.
Pure Greenie drivel. No surprise you believe it though. Keeping guzzling the Klimate Koolade.
Ivan
Not that garbage again. Go and do some proper research instead of taking the easy option and finding yet another alarmist echo chamber.
It’s fun to watch the Left and the alarmists try to spin the reason for the French riots.
It’s about “ cost of living” pressures.
Nothing to do with an emissions reducing diesel tax, or climate change issues.
Trump is funny because what he tweets is true. Even when it is not true, it feels true.
The Donald takes great delight in bypassing CNN, MSM, WaPo… People notice that. Anything they get their grubby keyboards on is false
Meanwhile back at the UK Ranch – The Gov’t funded “Integrity Initiative” has been caught red-handed attacking Corbyn as a Putin agent.
The UK has it’s very own Deep State!
Light relief.
A telling bit of graffiti in Paris: “Macron Antionette”, reflecting his detachment from the ordinary citizenry.
According to the website of the Automobile Association (AA), ‘reflective jacket/waistcoat’ is a compulsory requirement in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, France, Italy and Spain. It adds the following additional information:
Wearing, compulsory if driver and/or passenger(s) exits vehicle immobilised on carriageway, in Italy at night or in poor visibility, in Spain on all motorways and busy roads, it must be kept within the vehicle. In Croatia the wearing is compulsory whenever you have to get out of the vehicle at the roadside in an emergency. In Portugal and Norway the actual law applies to residents; however, regardless of the regulations local officials may impose an on-the-spot fine. In Belgium the wearing of the reflective jacket only applies to the driver, it must be worn should you be stranded on a Belgian motorway or on a major road or should you stop at a place where parking is not allowed. In France drivers must have one warning triangle and one reflective jacket in their vehicle. Motorcycle helmets must have retroreflective material fitted (see touring tip for further information). From January 2016 it will be compulsory for all motorcyclists (two or three wheels) to wear a reflective jacket in the event of an emergency. In Austria the regulation applies only to the driver.
This does not sound like a European Law. It sounds more like laws which have been enacted by individual countries.