[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 90 (Wednesday, May 24, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3121-S3122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Paris Agreement

  Mr. President, there is an African proverb that goes something like 
this: If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go 
together.
  The Paris Agreement was developed in that spirit; that 195 nations 
and territories can do more to protect our planet from climate change, 
the greatest environmental challenge of our lifetime, than the United 
States or any country can do isolated or on its own. Nearly 200 
countries now have agreed to do their part to limit our global 
temperature rise by developing national plans to reduce their own 
emissions.
  We know climate change is a global challenge that does not respect 
national borders. Emissions anywhere affect people everywhere, with the 
poorest and most vulnerable populations affected most. There is a 
reason why we call it ``global warming.'' We know no one country, no 
one region, no one continent can solve this problem alone.
  President Trump's inner circle has a different take on this 
historical agreement. For instance, during an appearance on ``Fox and 
Friends'' last month, Scott Pruitt, the EPA Administrator, denounced 
the Paris Agreement, calling it ``a bad deal for America.''
  Asked about his biggest objection to the accord, this is what he 
said. He claimed China and India had no obligation until 2030--no 
obligation until 2030--even though ``they are polluting far more than 
we are.''
  Well, that is just false. First, in 2015, the United States on a per 
capita basis produced more than double the carbon dioxide emissions of 
China--more than double--and eight times more than India. Also, 
contrary to what the Administrator continues to espouse, both China and 
India have pledged to reach their carbon emissions reduction goals by 
2030, which means they are taking steps now--not 5 years from now, not 
10 years from now, not 13 years from now--now, to meet those 
commitments. India is on schedule to be the world's third largest solar 
market by the end of 2017. In fact, last year, India unveiled the 
largest solar power facility in the world.
  Meanwhile, Chinese leaders have ordered their country's coal 
companies to cut 1.3 million jobs over the next 5 years. Some of these 
workers will find jobs in the clean energy sector, which Beijing 
expects to generate more than 13 million jobs by 2020.
  Make no mistake, if the United States cedes its leadership position 
on climate change, China will be ready and willing to assume that 
role--our role. In doing so, they will move ahead, and we will fall 
behind. It is just that simple.
  We have a chart here that includes a quote from China's top climate 
negotiator. He told Reuters about 6 months ago that if Trump abandons 
efforts to implement the Paris Agreement, ``China's influence and voice 
are likely to increase in global climate governance, which will then 
spill over into other areas of global governance and increase China's 
global standing, power and leadership.''
  The Chinese clearly understand that the Paris Agreement affords their 
country the opportunity to emerge in the 21st century as a clean energy 
superpower.
  I have been there. A year ago, I was there. In the trains they built 
and the train systems they built, the huge electric buses, all electric 
buses that I rode, it is clear they know what they are doing, and their 
intent was to eat our lunch by pursuing this clean sustainable energy 
approach.
  Unfortunately, those in the Trump administration seem to be the only 
ones who don't recognize that. Some day they will wish they had, and 
the rest of us will wish we had too. Withdrawing from this pact doesn't 
put America first, it puts America behind.
  You don't have to take my word for it. Just ask our business 
community. They see the clear benefits for their businesses and for 
America if we continue to play a lead role in the implementation of the 
Paris Agreement. Over 1,000 American companies and investors, some of 
which are represented here on this chart, have written to President 
Trump urging his administration and him to address climate change 
through the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The businesses, 
which include Exxon, Starbucks, Apple, General Mills, Walmart, Nike, 
Morgan Stanley, and BP--just to name a few--this is what all these 
companies and their leaders said: Failure to embrace the Paris accords 
``puts American prosperity at risk. But the right action now will 
create jobs and boost U.S. competitiveness.''
  I have another chart.
  We have two letters here. One was written to a new President, 
President Obama, in 2009. Again, this is a full-page ad.
  This is another ad that appeared in the past week to another new 
President, in this case, President Trump. Interesting enough, back in 
2009, a Manhattan businessman named Donald J. Trump agreed with the 
1,000 companies I mentioned earlier--the 1,000 companies that said we 
ought to do something about climate change. We ought to get on board 
and lead the way. Businessman Donald J. Trump agreed with them and 
joined CEOs to run an ad in the New York Times urging then-President 
Obama to ``lead the world by example,'' ahead of the U.N. Climate 
Change Conference in Copenhagen.
  In the ad right here, Donald Trump called on President Obama to allow 
the United States of America ``to serve in modeling the change 
necessary to protect humanity and our planet.''
  Eight years later, the person who signed this letter and joined all 
these

[[Page S3122]]

other CEOs in saying to President Obama: ``Wake up. Let's do something 
about this climate change stuff. Make sure we are leading the 
parade''--8 years later, he is not signing the letter. He is the 
addressee on the letter, from, again, hundreds of CEOs from around the 
country, and they are urging him to do the very same thing Donald J. 
Trump had urged Barack Obama to do 8 years earlier. If you ever want to 
think of something that is ironic, find an example of two full-page ads 
that sort of represent the term ``irony,'' this is it. This is it.
  The companies noted in this second full-page ad that the Paris 
Agreement provides just the kind of framework we need. So U.S. 
businesses still recognize that our country leading the world in 
addressing climate change is the right approach. We might want to ask: 
Why doesn't our President, Donald Trump, realize that? With the Paris 
Agreement, the global community rightly recognized that there are 
challenges bigger than any one State and came together to do what is 
best for our collective future.
  It is not the first time the global community came together for the 
greater good. In 1944, the world came together at the Convention on 
International Civil Aviation to regulate international air travel so 
planes could avoid flying into one another in the not-so-friendly skies 
of the future.
  In 1968, the nonproliferation treaty helped prevent the spread of 
nuclear weapons, promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and 
further the goal of disarmament to help keep our world safe.
  In 1977, the Chemical Weapons Convention outlawed the production, 
stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons, which the world agreed were 
inhumane.
  On these critical issues, the world came together overwhelmingly to 
do what was in the best interest of humanity rather than the best 
interest of one single nation, but even these other historic and 
frankly commonsense agreements don't have as many signers as the Paris 
Agreement does.
  We hear numbers thrown around a lot when we talk about the Paris 
Agreement, but to put the number of signers in context, let me just say 
it is nearly the whole world--nearly the whole world.
  If you wonder what 195 national flags look like, pretty much the 
whole world, this chart depicts that. There are two flags down here 
that have not signed, and one of those is Nicaragua. They didn't sign 
because they thought the Paris accords didn't go far enough. The other 
country that didn't sign on is Syria. So, in effect, there is really 
only one country that has refused to accept the basis of the Paris 
Agreement, this huge Paris accord, and that one nation is Syria.
  Our withdrawing leaves the United States in company with Bashar al-
Assad. We will be his wingman. That is not the company we ought to be 
keeping, and that is not who we are.
  When it comes to global challenges such as terrorism and cyber 
attacks, the United States doesn't sit back and wait for someone else 
to lead. We lead. America leads the way. We always have. It is part of 
the fabric of our Nation.
  To win our freedom, we took on the mightiest nation on Earth at the 
time, England, not once but twice, and beat them. A half century later, 
we survived a bloody Civil War that took hundreds of thousands of lives 
and left hundreds of thousands more crippled and wounded. After that 
war, our President was assassinated and his successor, Andrew Johnson, 
was impeached. Somehow we survived all that and we went on to lead our 
allies to victory in World War I and World War II. We led our country 
out of the Great Depression and into victory in the Cold War as well.
  Americans should, once again, be leading the world to combat what is 
likely to be the greatest challenge we will face in our lifetimes. Our 
children and their children are counting on this, and we should not let 
them down.
  Somebody asked me how long it would take to read a list of the 195 
nations that have signed on to the Paris Peace Accords, and I have the 
names right here. I am not sure I can correctly pronounce all of the 
names--maybe page 1 and the last page, and I will leave it at that.
  It starts out with Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, 
Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, 
Azerbaijan, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, and Barbados.
  That is the first page, and it goes on and on and on.
  I will finish up with Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United 
Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, 
Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
  There are 195 in all. We ought to be in company with the names of all 
of the countries that are on that list. We should not be in the company 
of the one that is down here by itself--Syria.
  Mr. President, how much time do I have remaining?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware has 13 minutes 
remaining until the vote.
  Mr. CARPER. Thank you.