Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement hurts the US

Nature Energy volume 2, Article number: 17145 (2017) Cite this article

Subjects

The Trump administration's domestic plans would have curtailed the nation's climate action even if it had stayed in the Paris Agreement. Yet, the decision to leave the agreement undermines US international energy and climate leadership and the prospects of ramping up global climate policy ambition.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. McKibbin, B. Trump's Stupid and Reckless Climate Decision. The New York Times (1 June 2017); http://go.nature.com/2vD0seL

  2. Rogelj, J. et al. Nature 534, 631–639 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Statement by President Trump on the Paris Climate Accord (The White House, 2017); http://go.nature.com/2uHLfdA

  4. Biniaz, S. & Bodansky, D. Legal Issues Related to the Paris Agreement (Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, 2017); http://go.nature.com/2w1i2di

  5. Presidential Executive Order on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth (The White House, 2017); http://go.nature.com/2x3YPVm

  6. Presidential Executive Order Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy (The White House, 2017); http://go.nature.com/2w1cv6k

  7. Buy American and Hire American for the United States Automobile Industry (The White House, 2017); http://go.nature.com/2w9Fq8Q

  8. Bordoff, J. Why Environmental Regulations Can’t Compete With the Market. The Wall Street Journal (23 May 2017); http://go.nature.com/2uOFjLH

  9. Houser, T., Bordoff, J. & Marsters, P. Can Coal Make a Comeback? (Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy, 2017); http://go.nature.com/2vI0mkw

  10. Short-Term Energy Outlook (EIA, 2017).

  11. Larsen, J., Larsen, K., Herndon, W., Mohan, S. & Houser, T. Trump's Regulatory Rollback Begins (Rhodium Group, 2017); http://go.nature.com/2fL6jsV

  12. Plumer, B. Here's What Optimistic Liberals get Wrong about Trump and Climate Change. Vox (4 January 2017); http://go.nature.com/2v1ocpd

  13. Meyer, R. ‘America's Pledge’: Can States and Cities Really Address Climate Change? The Atlantic (2 June 2017); http://go.nature.com/2uP0DRa

  14. Liao, R. Awkwardness at the G-20. Foreign Affairs (17 July 2017); http://go.nature.com/2wPAinz

  15. Henley, J. Angela Merkel: EU Cannot Completely rely on US and Britain Any More. The Guardian (28 May 2017); http://go.nature.com/2uOxllI

  16. McMaster, H. R. & Cohn, G. D. America First Doesn’t Mean America Alone. The Wall Street Journal (30 May 2017); http://go.nature.com/2v1bM0t

  17. EU–China Agree to Boost Energy Cooperation (European Commission, 2017); http://go.nature.com/2uIeAob

  18. Davenport, C. Diplomats Confront New Threat to Paris Climate Pact: Donald Trump. The New York Times (18 November 2016); http://go.nature.com/2wa43Cg

  19. Stavins, R. Paris Agreement — A Good Foundation for Meaningful Progress (12 December 2015); http://go.nature.com/2vJIDef

  20. Heikkinen, N. Former EPA Boss: ‘Clean Break’ from UN Talks Needed. E&E News (6 June 2017); http://go.nature.com/2uI7ccx

  21. Harnessing International Cooperation to Advance Energy Innovation (Council on Foreign Relations (2017); http://go.nature.com/2x45crJ

  22. Butler, D. Nature 547, 269 (2017).

  23. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. An Assessment of ARPA-E (The National Academies Press, 2017).

  24. Hall, B. H. & Lerner, J. In Handbook of the Economics of Innovation (eds Hall, B. H. & Rosenberg, N. ) Vol. 1, Ch. 14 (Elsevier, 2010).

    Google Scholar 

  25. Bordoff, J. The One Energy Policy Republicans and Democrats Can Agree On. The Wall Street Journal (13 November 2016); http://go.nature.com/2fKxjJ5

  26. Senate Subcommittee Approves FY2018 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill (US Senate Committee on Appropriations, 2017); http://go.nature.com/2wa4GM8

  27. World Energy Investment 2017 (IEA, 2017); http://go.nature.com/2i56Zda

  28. The 13th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of The People's Republic of China (Central Compilation & Translation Press, 2015); http://go.nature.com/2uIwkQo

  29. Member Participation (Mission Innovation, accessed 9 August 2017); http://go.nature.com/2wA7YFo

  30. Sanderson, H., Hancock, T. & Lewis, L. Electric Cars: China's Battle for the Battery Market. Financial Times (5 March 2017); http://go.nature.com/2weu7LR

  31. Moniz, E. & McCarthy, G. A “Cool” Way to Combat Climate Change under the Montreal Protocol. Department of Energy (20 July 2016); http://go.nature.com/2uIGxMz

  32. Xu, Y., Zaelke, D., Velders, G. J. M. & Ramanathan, V. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 13, 6083–6089 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center on Global Energy Policy, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, 1255 Amsterdam Avenue, Floor 1, New York, 10027, New York, USA

    Jason Bordoff

Authors
  1. Jason Bordoff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jason Bordoff.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bordoff, J. Withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement hurts the US. Nat Energy 2, 17145 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nenergy.2017.145

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nenergy.2017.145

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing