French President Emmanuel Macron is trolling President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement.
Taking a jab at Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make American great again,” a mantra that has been echoed frequently since Trump took office in January, Macron said the Paris climate agreement would succeed because “wherever we live, whoever we are, we all share the same responsibility: Make our planet great again.”
Trump said pulling out of the Paris climate agreement was in the best interest of the American economy, noting the measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would hurt American industries like paper, cement, steel, coal and natural gas, while giving countries like China and India less strict mandates.
“I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” Trump said.
Pittsburgh mayor Bill Peduto’s pithy reply aside — he almost instantly tweeted back, “As the Mayor of Pittsburgh, I can assure you that we will follow the guidelines of the Paris Agreement for our people, our economy & future” — what Trump’s speech failed to acknowledge was what the potential impact of scaling back green environmental research and technology could be on the American economy.
As the Mayor of Pittsburgh, I can assure you that we will follow the guidelines of the Paris Agreement for our people, our economy & future. https://t.co/3znXGTcd8C
— bill peduto (@billpeduto) June 1, 2017
It’s a point international leaders and scientists were quick to grab — without government support, what will happen to energy innovation and business investments?
John Sterman, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and senior adviser at Climate Interactive told Business Insider leaving the Paris Agreement will create uncertainty in the economy about the future of fossil fuels and renewable-energy resources.
Trump said he made the decision to protect U.S. industries and jobs, but by pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, the U.S. could lose it top spot as a climate action leader and cede jobs to China and Europe as they ramp up clean energy technology investments, Sterman said. Macron had a message for workers in those fields, too.
“To all scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, responsible citizens who were disappointed by the decision of the president of the United States, I want to say that they will find in France a second homeland. I call on them, come and work here with us,” Macron said in his response to Trump’s decision Thursday night, “to work together on concrete solutions for our climate, our environment. I can assure you France will not give up the fight.”
