President Trump has decided to withdraw from the landmark Paris Climate Agreement signed by former President Barack Obama in 2015, two people familiar with the decision told Axios. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is reportedly hammering out the details: "They're deciding on whether to initiate a full, formal withdrawal — which could take three years — or exit the underlying United Nations Treaty, which would be faster but more extreme," Axios writes.
The Paris agreement, dealing with greenhouse gas emissions, has been signed by every nation except Nicaragua and Syria. Pruitt and Trump have called the global agreement "a bad deal for America."
Climate scientists have expressed alarm at the United States' exit: "A Trump presidency might be game over for the climate. It might make it impossible to stabilize planetary warming below dangerous levels," scientist Michael Mann said. "If Trump makes good on his campaign promises and pulls out of the Paris Treaty, it is difficult to see a path forward to keeping warming below dangerous levels."
Read more about why the Paris climate agreement is a big deal and why ditching the agreement could have global consequences.