Paris Climate Agreement Withdrawal

Overview

Paris Climate Agreement Withdrawal refers to President Donald Trump announcing plans to withdraw the United States from a United Nations plan to fight climate change by 2020.

Background

On April 22nd, 2016, 175 world leaders met at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City to sign the Paris Accord, an agreement for global action in the fight against climate change. Drafted in 2015, the Paris agreement set forth a plan for each country to set targets for reducing their contribution to climate change. Every country has a different set of goals, which can be altered as needed. The plan was to slowly decrease the speed of climate change.^[1]

Development

On May 31st, 2017, the news website Axios^[2] tweeted, "BREAKING: President Trump has decided to withdraw from the Paris climate accord." The tweet received more than 5,500 retweets and 2,800 likes in less than eight hours.

Several hours later, President Trump addressed the rumors in a tweet that morning. He said, "I will be announcing my decision on the Paris Accord over the next few days. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" The tweet (shown below) received more than 11,000 retweets and 51,300 likes.

On June 1st, President Trump announced that the U.S. would be withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord at press conference in the White House rose garden (shown below). He said that he wanted to renegotiate the "deal" because the U.S. had been treated unfairly.^[20]

Reaction

Following Trump's announcement to leave the Paris agreement, countries around the world announced their intention to follow through on their commitment to reducing the effects of climate change. Several major cities lit landmarks green in support of the Paris Agreement, including the World Trade Center in New York City and Paris' City Hall. Cities and Stated around the U.S. launched the "Cimate Alliance" to uphold the U.S.'s commitment to the agreement.^[35]

The President of France Emmanuel Macron made a statement stating that they would continue to work against the effects of climate change to "make the planet great again." Many saw his sentiment, "make the planet great again," as direct response to President Trump, who is known for saying "Make America Great Again.":\/memes/make-america-great-again Several news outlets covered Macron's response, including The Daily Dot,^[31]
Vox,^[32] Washington Post,^[33] and more.

That day, The Washington Post fact checked President Trump's speech, pointing out several statements that proved to be false, including the notion that the U.S. needed to renegotiate the "deal." The U.S., as per the treaty, can alter its commitment at any time. This also means that his statement, “China will be allowed to build hundreds of additional coal plants. So, we can’t build the plants, but they can, according to this agreement. India will be allowed to double its coal production by 2020” was also false. Because every country sets their own goals for the accord, there is nothing stopping any country from building coal plants. However, following the Agreement signing, China announced that it canceled plans to build 100 coal-fired plants.^[34]

Online Reaction

Following the reports, users on Twitter began discussing the fallout and potential dangers of U.S. withdrawal of the Agreement. Twitter user @MissEllieMae^[3] tweeted, "In 100 years, Trump withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement will be considered the seismic event. This election will be a footnote." The tweet (shown below, left) received more than 1,200 retweets and 2,900 likes in eight hours. Citing an article in The New York Times,^[4] Twitter user @BraddJaffy^[5] tweeted "'it is now far more likely that we will breach the danger limit.'" The tweet (shown below, right) garnered more than 580 retweets and 700 likes.

Radio personality and author Hugh Hewitt tweeted^[6] his approval of the withdrawal from the agreement. In two tweets, he said, "Bravo to @realDonaldTrump if he withdraws from #ParisAgreement Like the #irandeal both are vast overreachs of executive authority, cutting out Congress which ought to have the final say on such far reaching treaties and which @POTUS44 ignored in both cases."

On Reddit, several threads were started to discuss the potential withdrawal. The most popular concerned New York City mayor Bill De Blasio, who said the city would uphold the agreement. Redditor Whoshabooboo posted the article to the /r/politics subreddit, receiving more than 32,900 points (88% upvoted) and 2,600 comments.^[13] There were also threads on /r/The_Donald, which received more than 9,000 points (81% upvoted) and 1,200 comments.^[14] Several other threads in /r/politics received more than 1,000 points within eight hours of posting.^[15][16]

Following Trump's speech, Weather.com's covered their home page in pointed articles about the effects of climate change and the importance of action. Many online noted the aggressive tone that they were now taking due to the withdrawal. Twitter user @whynotanna tweeted a picture of the home page with the caption "holy shit, weather.com home page right now." The tweet received more than 27,000 retweets and 41,000 likes.^[26]

Twitter published a Moments page to document Weather.com's home page and the reaction to it.^[27]

In his speech, Trump said, "I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris." This statement led many from Pittsburgh to criticize the President. The Mayor of Pittsburgh, Bill Peduto, said on Twitter, "Fact: Hillary Clinton received 80% of the vote in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh stands with the world & will follow Paris Agreement @HillaryClinton." The tweet received more than 37,000 retweets and 77,000 likes.^[28]

Twitter published a Moments page to document the reaction to Trump's comment on Pittsburgh and its citizens.^[29]

On June 2nd, Redditor EccentricRichAndSexy posted a picture of a stencil of Donald Trump's silhouette and the caption "#TotalLoser, so sad! Greenpace" on the U.S. Embassy in Germany. Within five hours, the post (shown below) had received more than 58,600 points (69% upvoted) and 2,800 comments.^[30]

Elon Musk

Following rumors that the President would be withdrawing, Tesla-founder Elon Musk tweeted a response stating that he advised the president to stay.^[11] He tweeted, "Don't know which way Paris will go, but I've done all I can to advise directly to POTUS, through others in WH & via councils, that we remain." The tweet (shown below) received more than 4,800 retweets and 16,000 likes in about an hour. When asked what he would do if the U.S. withdraws, he tweeted, "Will have no choice but to depart councils in that case."^[12] Twitter published a Moments^[10] page regarding Musk's response to Trump's planned withdrawal.

After the withdrawal announcement Musk announced that he would be leaving the "presidential council." In his first Tweet on the subject, he said, "Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world." The tweet (shown below, left) received more than 200,000 retweets and 460,000 likes in less than 24 hours. A follow up tweet (shown below, right), said "Under Paris deal, China committed to produce as much clean electricity by 2030 as the US does from all sources today." The tweet received more than 16,000 retweets and 43,000 likes. Twitter published a Moments page about Musk's tweets.^[23][24][25]

Media Coverage

Several media outlets covered Trump's potential withdrawal from the Paris agreement, including The New York Times, CNN,^[7] Politico^[8] and more, and Twitter published a Moments^[9] page about the news. Media outlets also covered Elon Musk's announcement that he may leave the White House council, including Politico,^[17] CNBC,^[18] The Daily Dot^[19] and more.

Related Memes

Paris Agreement Announcement Band

Paris Agreement Announcement Band refers to the jazz quartet playing in the White House rose garden prior to President Trump's announcement. Twitter user @jonathanvswan^[21] posted a picture (shown below) of the band to Twitter with the caption: "Celebratory mood in the White House Rose Garden for Paris announcement. A jazz band is playing." The post received more than 790 retweets and 1,600 likes within 24 hours.

Shortly after, people started comparing the band to the infamous band who played as the Titanic sunk. One Twitter user, @darth, tweeted a picture of the band submerged in water and Sean Spicer hiding behind a bush (shown below, left). The tweet received more than 680 retweets and 2,100 likes within 24 hours. Another, @GenGriebe posted a gif of the band in the film Titanic with the caption "Another live shot of the band playing in the Rose Garden" (shown below, right).

On June 1st, Twitter published a Moments page to document the reaction to the band.^[22]

Search Interest

External References