Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Obama to Trump: Trends Toward Clean Energy “Irreversible”

Obama to Trump: Trends Toward Clean Energy “Irreversible”

WASHINGTON - Outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday warned President-elect Donald Trump against walking away from a global climate deal, saying that trends toward clean energy are "irreversible" and will help drive economic growth.
In an article published in the highly regarded research journal Science, Obama wrote that "a massive scientific record" shows that climate change is "real and cannot be ignored" and that left unchecked, the continued growth of greenhouse gas emissions could cause global average temperatures to increase by another four degrees Celsius or more by 2100.
That rise would cost the world economy about four percent of gross domestic product (GDP), which could lead to lost U.S. federal revenue of roughly 340 billion to 690 billion U.S. dollars every year, Obama said.
"Although our understanding of the impacts of climate change is increasingly and disturbingly clear, there is still debate about the proper course for U.S. policy -- a debate that is very much on display during the current presidential transition," said Obama, referring to Trump's threat to withdraw from the Paris Agreement to combat climate change.
However, he said that trends toward a clean-energy economy that have emerged during his presidency will continue "and that the economic opportunity for our country to harness that trend will only grow."
Obama noted that between 2008 and 2015 the U.S. economy grew by more than 10 percent while emissions of carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector fell by 9.5 percent, a result that "should put to rest the argument that combating climate change requires accepting lower growth or a lower standard of living." (Xinhua)