Rhode Island to join states in Paris climate agreement pact

Yet Mr Elon Musk, chief executive officer of SpaceX and Tesla, and Mr Robert Iger, CEO of Disney, publicly resigned from one of the President’s advisory councils to protest against the move.

“We can not protect America’s interest without a seat at the table, so San Diego will continue to lead on environmental protection”, Faulconer tweeted.

Trump announced the withdrawal on Thursday, tapping into his “America First” campaign theme.

DUP Westminster candidate in East Antrim, Sammy Wilson said the deal was “totally flawed” and that the US President was right to withdraw. “A risky world”, said President Macron.

There was a mix of dismay and anger across the world.

Apart from Nicaragua, which believed the Paris agreement didn’t go far enough in combatting climate change, and Syria which has chosen not to accede to the agreement as it remains embroiled in civil war, the United States is the only nation on earth to exit the agreement.

The governors of four New England states – including two Republicans – are joining a bipartisan coalition of states committed to meeting the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.

She said: “This decision can’t and won’t stop all those of us who feel obliged to protect the planet”.

The reason the market isn’t freaking out about the US leaving the Paris accord is that the deal was never the driver of solar adoption around the world. Jerry Brown said if Trump is going to abandon USA leadership in the pact “then California and other states will step up”. “We are convinced that yesterday’s decision by the United States to leave the Paris Agreement is a big mistake”.

Earlier, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said: “There is no reverse gear to energy transition”. For years, Trump has been calling global warming a hoax, sometimes alleging that it was invented by China. Reilly told Reuters the White House did not contact MIT scientists or offer them a chance to explain their work before Trump used it in his speech at the Rose Garden this week.

Pruitt, asked if he himself believed climate change is occurring, said he has indicated that “human activity contributes to it in some manner”.

Another notable absentee on Thursday was the taciturn Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, former CEO of oil giant ExxonMobil.

The European Union and China recommitted Friday to the 2015 Paris climate deal, one day after the United States announced it would withdraw from it.

“Hopefully people can keep it in perspective”, he said, calling Trump’s move “a policy decision”. “Even though this administration keeps saying that climate action is somehow bad for the economy, most USA companies don’t agree with that assessment”.

“What Donald Trump is doing is serving the polluters and serving a narrow group of ideological interests”, he said.

Despite being met with angry reactions from world leaders, industry titans like Elon Musk and many in between, some politicians and Americans with their eyes on economics praised the president’s decision. He spoke directly to scientists and engineers in the U.S.