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Hoosier leaders react to Trump exit from global climate pact

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Here are statements from Indiana political leaders and others to President Donald Trump’s decision Thursday to withdraw the U.S. from the landmark Paris climate agreement.

U.S. Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind.:

Today’s announcement should come as no surprise after the president’s promises to roll back harmful Obama-era environmental actions. The Clean Power Plan along with the Paris Climate Agreement stood to harm Hoosier ratepayers and workers more than it helped the environment.”

U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind:

Climate change is not an issue that the U.S. can solve on its own. America needs to lead, not withdraw from, efforts to engage other countries to develop an effective strategy. We need to address climate change in a way that ensures that the American economy and American workers stay competitive with the rest of the world.”

U.S. Rep. Larry Buschon, R-Ind., who cosponsored a resolution seeking the nation’s withdrawal from the agreement:

While we can all agree that we should continually work to minimize our impact on the environment through innovation and technology, this flawed deal is unfair to American workers and puts our country at an economic disadvantage to the benefit of countries like China, Iran, and India. Estimates show the agreement could cost 6.5 million American jobs and devastate areas like Southern Indiana where families rely on the coal industry. Not to mention, we were committed to this agreement – what should be considered a treaty – unilaterally by President (Barack) Obama, without the advice and consent of the Senate. … The American people should decide the direction of our domestic energy policy, not foreign nations. I’m happy the President took a strong stand today to ensure they do.”

A tweet from U.S. Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind.:

U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Ind:

President Trump made the right decision by withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement.  We can all acknowledge that human activity has an impact on the environment, even if very small compared to natural cycles and events, and we need to be good stewards of the planet God has given us.  Even if we could isolate global temperature changes as tied to human activity alone, nothing proposed in this agreement would have any meaningful impact on global temperatures.  Countries like China, and other developing nations, are still going to pump carbon into the atmosphere and they will gladly watch us damage our economy and put ourselves at a competitive disadvantage. While the Paris Climate Agreement would have had a negligible impact on global temperatures, it would have had a devastating impact on lower and middle income Americans who can’t afford increased electricity prices.  This deal would have also destroyed hundreds of thousands of jobs by sending more American manufacturing to China and Mexico, and further crippled America’s struggling coal industry.  Liberal billionaires who profit from government mandates will prosper as they fly in their private jets and hypocritically lecture us, but regular Americans will take a beating.  I applaud President Trump for standing up for America’s middle class, American energy jobs and American manufacturing.”

Jesse Kharbanda, executive director of the Indianapolis-based Hoosier Environmental Council:

Donald Trump pledged to make job creation the centerpiece of his Administration.   Given that the US has four times more jobs in renewable energy than in coal, and given that there are more jobs in solar energy than in coal energy in Indiana, Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement is stunningly short-sighted, from an economic perspective.   Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement will send the wrong signal to the global sustainable energy marketplace, hurting prospective U.S. investment in places like Indiana, which ranks 2nd in the country in renewable energy manufacturing job potential. Trump has made a historic mistake that is wrong economically, environmentally, & morally. And yet, determination by an extraordinary array of foresighted business people, entrepreneurs, inventors, faith leaders, Mayors, citizens, and advocates will mean that the movement to address climate change in the U.S. will continue to grow, despite Trump’s stunningly short-sighted decision.”

U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind:

With cost estimates as high as $750 billion, the Paris agreement imposes an extremely expensive burden without moving the needle on greenhouse gas emissions. From the start, this agreement bypassed Congress and was more about President Obama’s political climate agenda than sound science. I am glad President Trump is following through on his campaign promise and pulling the United States out of this flawed agreement. I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Science Committee to develop real solutions based on science, not politics, to address these issues.”

A tweet from Vice President Mike Pence, Indiana’s former governor, who introduced Trump before his announcement:

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