Nearly 150 congressional Democrats sign onto resolution condemning Paris withdrawal
A majority of the House Democratic caucus has signed onto a resolution opposing President Trump’s move to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement for the second time.
In the resolution, introduced Friday, more than 120 House Democrats condemned the withdrawal order, while 22 Democrats signed onto a Senate version.
The House version was led by Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), along with House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.). The Senate version was led by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), one of the chamber’s most vocal Democrats on climate issues.
“President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement sends a signal to our allies that the US is turning its back on a healthy and safe future for our world,” Schneider said in a statement. “This decision puts us at a competitive disadvantage to adversaries like China and lowers global ambition to address climate change with the seriousness and urgency it demands.”
In addition to condemning the withdrawal, Markey’s resolution “signals ongoing support for U.S. climate ambition by leaders in Congress, who are continuing to work with and highlight local, state, regional, Tribal, and nongovernmental climate partners,” the Massachusetts senator said in a statement.
Trump announced the Paris withdrawal Monday as one of his first actions in office, a step he also took during his first presidency in 2017. Biden rejoined the compact on the first day of his own presidency. The withdrawal order came as part of a broader suite of actions to roll back Biden-era environmental and climate policies, reflecting Trump's campaign-trail vows to drastically expand domestic oil and gas development in his second term.
The resolutions come two days after billionaire and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg announced his charitable foundation would offset lost revenues to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change due to the U.S.'s withdrawal after making similar contributions during Trump’s first term.