Posted on 05/31/2017 4:01:08 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
WEST PALM BEACH — Preemptive outrage levels rose precipitously among Florida Democrats on Wednesday over reports that President Donald Trump would pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson told reporters in West Palm Beach that U.S. withdrawal from the agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would be “a huge mistake – 197 countries signed that agreement, albeit a voluntary agreement. What we’re trying to do is save the planet from getting so heated up that there’s no return.”
Nelson and others said Florida is in particular danger from sea level rise. U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, tweeted a picture of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach partially submerged in water and asked, “Is this what POTUS needs to see before sea level rise is real to him?”
U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, whose district includes Mar-a-Lago, said on Twitter that withdrawing from the Paris accord would be “a stunning denial of science, putting planet in jeopardy & alienating key allies. Big mistake by shortsighted @POTUS.”
U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Delray Beach, piled on as well.
“President Trump’s intention to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement is an irresponsible renouncement of American leadership,” Hastings said in a statement released by his office. “The results of abandoning this international framework will be tragic, destructive, and costly, and will undermine the legitimacy of our country on the global stage.”
Two Democratic candidates for governor also weighed in, with former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham throwing in criticism of Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a leading Trump ally who is expected to run for Nelson’s Senate seat in 2018.
“While the rest of the world moves forward, the United States under Trump and Florida under Rick Scott are in reverse,” said Graham, who opened her gubernatorial campaign in May. “Scott has shown little more than lip service to remedial efforts, and Trump reneging on the Paris Agreement will place our environment, economy and national security at even greater risk. As governor, I’ll stand up to climate denier Donald Trump.”
Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who’s also seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, said: “Florida is the epicenter for climate change — and these decisions will hit us harder than the rest of the United States. When I’m governor, I’ll fight to protect our natural resources and future.”
Nelson said the U.S. “sets the example for the rest of the world” on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and its actions influence China and other emerging economies.
“If the United States is not doing its part, they’re not going to do it and that means that ultimately the earth will heat up, and on the east coast and west coast of Florida, sea level rise will start over the course of this century to rise another 2 to 3 feet,” Nelson said. “I don’t think we want that to happen.”
If Trump does withdraw from the agreement, Nelson said, “I’d want the people of Florida to rise up and demand of their elected representatives, at both the state level and the local level, to insist that we abide by the voluntary standards that came out of the Paris accords.”
I’m 42 years old. I have lived through at least 84 “point of no return” environmental catastrophes.
Pure derangement. LOL
Pure derangement. LOL
Where have I heard this before? Oh yeah, about NATO countries paying their fair share if we do; and other countries neglected to pay up. And the United Nations, where if the USA pays their share, other countries will too; yet we pay the lion's share while other countries skip payments. And so on.
Let Europe pay for something for once, while we sit back and watch what happens. Betcha the oceans are not going to rise significantly over the next couple hundred years.
You too hush? 65 years young and, I have been hearing the global warming CO2 nonsense since the 70’s. Still here. I am more concerned about global cooling.
Hush = huh
We demand the US continues to do stupid, expensive cr*p.
...to take our money!"
What we’re trying to do is save the planet from getting so heated up that there’s no return...
...And we accomplish this by sending $100 billion a year to poor countries so they can buy iPhones."
C'mon America, who's with me?!?!?"
Wow, Florida really has a severe drug problem.
This grandstanding is could have been avoided if Trump would have pulled out in January as promised. It was expected. By putting it in limbo it opened the door for all these fools to make a spectacle. Even the Pope has gotten into it. I am afraid of some kind of “compromise” in the works. Cohn said Trump is evolving meaning once Trump fully evolves he would do the “right thing” and keep us in it. Thanks Ivanka and Rex.
I want President Trump to announce that he is building a 60 foot solar panel wall the full length of the US-Mexico border!
Yeah, I wish I hadn’t tossed my 70s paperbacks on The Coming Ice Age, The Population Bomb, and Chariots of the Gods; good comedy all.
Even damn VERN BUCHANAN is for this crappy treaty!!! And I USED to think he was smart!
I would like to see a contest between FL Democrat legislators and CA legislators to see which ones are the most ignorant...or stupid as the case may be.
5.56mm
Remember when the Democrats were saying we needed to stop getting involved overseas and to stop spending on foreign schemes like this so we could bring billions of dollars back to our shores? I thought they were supposed to stand up for the American worker in the factory and manufacturing plant. The Paris Fraud as I call it would destroy what’s left of our industrial base.
Democrats say they care about the poor. These agreements are huge attempts to redistribute wealth from the poor and middle class to the wealthy.
Short term memories....
Senate 95, Kyoto Protocol 0
We’re still here.
the sheer arrogance of politicians believing they can reduce the temperature of the earth when they can’t even fix the potholes in the roads.
withdrawing from the Paris Agreement will be the greatest victory for science.
as for the rest of the world, the Florida politiians need to do some research, and they will discover most countries are ignoring the non-binding Agreement.
Vern is a uniparty / lobbyist bought off hack .
Sarasota could use a conservative not that Dem lite snake.
Bushbot !
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