Trump To Pull U.S. Out Of Paris Climate Agreement

The U.S. is pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, President Trump announced Thursday in the White House Rose Garden. 

"In order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord," Mr. Trump said. 

Instead, the U.S. will "begin negotiations to reenter either the Paris accord or a really entirely new transaction" on terms that he said are fair to U.S. businesses, workers and taxpayers. 

"So we're getting out, but we will start to negotiate and we will see if we can make a deal that's fair. And if we can, that's great, and if we can't, that's fine," he added.

Pulling out of the agreement -- one of President Obama's major achievements in office -- could take up to three years to carry out. The decision was long-awaited, given that Mr. Trump promised on the campaign trail last year to withdraw from the pact. CBS News' Major Garrett confirmed Wednesday that the president was expected to pull out.

The U.S. will now be one of only three countries out of 197 nations that isn't signed onto the agreement, with the other two being Nicaragua and Syria. 

The pact is aimed at combatting climate change around the world and adapting to its effects by requiring countries to present plans to reduce carbon emissions. Specifically, it requires countries to set their own targets for reducing emissions by 2020. The Obama administration, for example, had committed the U.S. to reducing carbon emissions by 26 to 28 percent by 2025. The agreement also established a $100 billion fund to help vulnerable countries deal with the effects of climate change.

Last October, Obama celebrated the news that the agreement would take effect November 4.

"Today the world has officially crossed the threshold for the Paris Agreement to take effect," he said from the Rose Garden. "Today the world meets the moment and if we follow through on the commitments this Paris Agreement embodies, history may well judge it as a turning point for our planet."

During the presidential campaign, Mr. Trump pledged to withdraw from the agreement.

"This agreement gives foreign bureaucrats control over how much energy we use on our land, in our country," he said at a North Dakota rally where he outlined his energy policy. "No way."

The president has previously called climate change a "hoax," tweeting in 2012, ""The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive."

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