Liz Cheney applauds Trump for pulling out of Paris climate agreement

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), a member of House leadership, on Tuesday expressed support for President Trump’s decision the day before to begin the yearlong process of withdrawing the U.S. from the landmark Paris climate agreement.

The accord, Cheney tweeted, “was based on flawed science and would have cost hundreds of thousands of American jobs, including many in Wyoming’s critical energy industry.”

I applaud President Trump for formally withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement. This Agreement was based on flawed science and would have cost hundreds of thousands of American jobs, including many in Wyoming’s critical energy industry. https://t.co/eZFgpqvjEr

— Rep. Liz Cheney (@RepLizCheney) November 5, 2019

{mosads}The Wyoming lawmaker added in a statement: “Under the agreement, the United States would have been subject to new and unattainable requirements while other signatories with terrible environmental track records would be allowed to continue to operate without consequences.”

Cheney is vocal defender of Trump, but she has notably broken with him on a number of issues recently, including his decision to move U.S. troops out of northern Syria and attacks on a witness in the House impeachment inquiry.

Signed by former President Obama in 2015, the Paris agreement required the U.S. to reduce emissions about 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.

The United States’ withdrawal from the deal, which is signed by every other country in the world, will become official on Nov. 4, 2020, a day after the 2020 presidential election.

Trump’s decision drew ire from congressional Democrats and environmental organizations.

Sen. Tom Carper (Del.), the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, called Trump’s actions “shameful” and “cowardly.”

“Donald Trump is the worst president in history for our climate and our clean air and water,” the Sierra Club said in a statement. “Long after Trump is out of office, his decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement will be seen as a historic error.”

Several Democratic presidential candidates also joined in on the criticism of Trump via Twitter, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) calling Trump “an international embarrassment” and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) saying that she would get the nation “back into the international climate change agreement” on her first day at president.