Press Releases

Rep. Don Beyer today issued the following statement in response to news that President Trump will soon announce his intention to exit the Paris Climate Agreement:

“The Paris Climate Agreement negotiated by President Obama, leading global climate scientists, and other responsible world leaders represents our best opportunity to arrest the devastating effects of global climate change. Today’s news that Donald Trump intends to pull out of the global accord stands in stark contrast to overwhelming public and scientific agreement on the causes and solutions to climate change.

Trump’s decision will be a self-inflicted wound on our allies’ trust in American leadership. The Paris Agreement was a vision reflecting decisive action, hope, ingenuity, and the ideals with which we would define our country’s place in the world.  Withdrawal from that agreement represents a triumph of ignorance, nativism, and political pandering, and the message it sends to other countries will be disastrous for the relationships which have built and sustained our prosperity.

We know that doubling down on harmful carbon pollution is not the path to a cleaner, safer world.  Today, I redouble my commitment to strong environmental protections, to ensure the United States is in a position to rejoin the agreement and meet our pledged targets once we have new leadership.”