You may be surprised that it’s been two years since the United States withdrew from the Paris Agreement on June 1, 2017. Despite much gnashing of teeth around the world when President Trump announced this decision, it was a good move for the United States — and for the rest of the world. Here are four reasons to celebrate this anniversary:
1. Lower electricity costs
Laws and regulations that limit energy choices inevitably drive up the cost of energy, which influences the cost of everything we do. The Paris Agreement’s arbitrary temperature and emission goals would have increased electricity and fuel costs for American families and businesses by as much as 20 percent.
2. Saving tax dollars
Prior to the accord, President Obama pledged $3 billion to the United Nations’ Green Climate Fund, which was just the start of what was anticipated to be over $100 billion annually in funding from developed nations after 2025. Now, the U.S. share of that funding is staying home for the benefit of the American people who earned it.
3. Becoming the dominant energy producer around the world
Rejecting burdensome regulations means American companies have the freedom to grow their businesses and harness our abundant energy resources. We’re now exporting American oil and natural gas around the world, which means more jobs at home and fewer energy imports from hostile nations.
4. Freedom to actually improve the environment
For all its pomp and circumstance, the Paris Agreement will have no discernible impact on the global temperatures, which would only decrease only 0.17 degrees in 2100 — if every emissions reduction pledge were maintained throughout the century, which is unlikely. The environment will be far better off if we are free to grow our economies so that we can afford to reduce actual pollution and preserve our local ecosystems.