TRENTON – The Senate Environment and Energy Committee advanced a resolution sponsored by Senator John McKeon and its Chair, Senator Bob Smith, which would condemn President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement and urge him to rejoin it.
“President Trump’s choice to leave the Paris Agreement is a huge step backward, undermining global efforts to combat climate change. His actions will lead to greater economic and environmental damages from increasingly common disasters across the country,” said Senator McKeon (D-Essex/Passaic). “In signing this order, he has revealed that he cares more about the profits of fossil fuel companies than the people impacted by the many wildfires and hurricanes that have wreaked havoc across the United States in recent years.”
The Paris Agreement is an international climate change treaty signed by 196 nations in 2016 to limit global warming to 2°C above pre-industrial levels, with a goal of keeping that figure below 1.5°C. It urges countries to set carbon emission reduction targets, report their progress transparently, and update their goals every five years, aiming for signatories to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
“In addition to the existential threat that climate change poses, our withdrawal from the Paris Agreement signals to the world that the United States is abandoning its position as a leader in renewable energy technologies,” said Senator Smith (D-Middlesex/Somerset). “Whether President Trump likes it or not, the rest of the world is moving toward clean energy, and he cannot stop it. If we halt our investment in this emerging industry now, we are simply handing our adversaries the future profits and influence on a silver platter.”
Copies of the resolution, SCR-124, would be transmitted by the New Jersey Legislature to the President and Vice President of the United States and every member of Congress elected from this State.