The U.S. will maintain a leadership role in reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, even though President Trump plans to withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement, a top State Department official assured a global audience in Germany Thursday.
Judith Garber, acting assistant secretary for oceans, environment and science at the State Department, said in a speech at the United Nations-led climate change talks in Bonn, Germany, that the U.S. will “continue to be a leader” on clean energy and remains committed to helping other countries “adapt to the impacts of climate change.”
The two-week Bonn conference, closing Friday, is meant as a forum for countries to shore up their commitment to the Paris Agreement. President Trump plans to remove the U.S. from the agreement in 2020, becoming the only nation to not commit to it.
“Irrespective of our views on the Paris Agreement, the United States will continue to be a leader in clean energy and innovation, and we understand the need for transforming energy systems,” Garber said, adding the U.S. remains “open” to rejoining the Paris deal on “terms more favorable to the American people.”
“Beyond energy, the United States will continue to help our partner countries reduce emissions from forests and other lands, to adapt to the impacts of climate change, and to respond to natural disasters,” she said.
Her nuanced comments on climate change contrast with the rhetoric used by Trump administration officials, who held an event earlier this week in Bonn promoting the “clean” use of coal and nuclear power.
Trump has repeatedly trumpeted “clean coal,” without defining what he means by the term, while Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has moved to delay or eliminate a number of regulations intended to reduce emissions of carbon and other greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels that many climate scientists blame for driving manmade climate change.
Pruitt also has proposed a “Red Team-Blue Team” exercise for experts to debate the causes of climate change.
Garber never used the word “coal” in her Bonn address, although she reaffirmed the White House position that transitioning to renewable energy sources such as solar and wind must coincide with economic prosperity and energy security.
“Our guiding principles are universal access to affordable and reliable energy, and open, competitive markets that promote efficiency and energy security, not only for the United States but around the globe,” she said. “The United States will continue supporting a balanced approach to climate mitigation, economic development, and energy security that takes into consideration the realities of the global energy mix.”
George David Banks, Trump’s special assistant on international energy and environment, led a panel with energy industry officials on Monday in Bonn, where he shared the administration’s view that fighting climate change cannot come at the cost of economic development.
At the panel, which was overwhelmed by climate change activists, Banks conceded that while “climate change mitigation is an important goal to the U.S, energy security and economic prosperity are higher priorities.”
The panelists, including representatives from the coal and nuclear industries, argued that investing in “clean coal” initiatives, such as technology that captures and stores carbon emissions from coal plants, is an important component to cutting emissions to levels needed to avoid worse effects of climate change.
Garber made a similar point during her Thursday address, arguing that the U.S. has seen a 11.5 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 2005 largely because of private-sector “innovative energy technologies.”
“We want to work with other countries to continue advancing the development and deployment of a broad array of technologies that will ultimately enable us to achieve our climate and energy security goals,” Garber said.
She added the U.S. is working with countries such as China and India to use smart grid technology, energy efficiency, and carbon capture.
The U.S. has kept a low-profile in Bonn, sending far fewer delegates to the conference than other major countries and leaving behind top officials such as Pruitt.
Other major countries made a larger splash on Thursday that contradicted the U.S. message in Bonn, announcing the creation of an international alliance to phase out coal before 2030.
At least 15 countries committed to forming the Power Past Coal Alliance, including: the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium, Switzerland, New Zealand, Ethiopia, Chile, Mexico, and the Marshall Islands.
But many of the world’s biggest coal users, such as the U.S., China, Germany, and Russia, have not signed on.
The reach of the pact is limited because the countries that joined the alliance represented less than 3 percent of global coal consumption in 2016.
Coal is responsible for more than 40 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions.
French President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, challenged Europe to “replace America” in financing the UN climate change science body.
Macron, in a Wednesday address at the Bonn conference, promised to replace the $2 million annual donation withdrawn by the Trump administration from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
“We need scientific information which is constantly nourished to ensure clear decision making,” Macron said. “The IPCC is one of the major components of this work. However, it is threatened today by the decision of the US not to guarantee funding for it. Therefore, I propose that the EU replaces the USA, and France will meet that challenge.”
