In his first public speech since leaving the White House, former US President Donald Trump raised the climate issue while criticising his successor Joe Biden for rejoining the “very unfair” Paris Agreement, saying what good does it do when America is “clean” but China, Russia and India are not.
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Committee in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday, the 74-year-old leader, who left the White House on January 20, came down heavily on the Biden administration for putting the “United States back into the very unfair and very costly Paris Climate Accord without negotiating a better deal”.
“First of all, China does not kick in for 10 years, Russia goes by an old standard which was not a clean standard… but we get hit right from the beginning when it costs us hundreds of thousands and millions of jobs, it was a disaster... but they go back in.
“We have the cleanest air and cleanest water… and what good does it do when we’re clean, but China is not and Russia is not and India is not, so they are pouring fumes... you know the world is a small piece of the universe and we’re trying to protect everything,” Trump said amidst applause from his supporters.
On February 19, the US officially returned to the historic Paris climate accord, 107 days after it left at the behest of former President Trump. UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres had termed that decision as a “major disappointment for global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote global security”.
In the past also, Trump has criticised China, India and Russia for pollution. In October last year, he accused China, India and Russia of not taking care of their “filthy air” as he justified America’s withdrawal from the landmark Paris climate agreement.
“Look at China, how filthy it is. Look at Russia. Look at India. The air is filthy,” Trump had said during the final presidential debate with his Democratic challenger Joe Biden in Nashville, Tennessee.
Days earlier while speaking to his cheering supporters at an election rally in North Carolina, he had blamed countries like China, Russia and India for adding to the global air pollution and asserted that his country has the best environmental numbers.
China is the world’s biggest carbon emitter followed by the US, India and the EU.
“Our movement of proud, hard-working American patriots is just getting started, and in the end we will win. We will win,” Trump said. Refusing to admit he lost the November 3 presidential election to Joe Biden, Trump offered a withering critique of his Democratic successor’s first weeks in office and suggested he might run again.
