Pathways of Harm: The Consequences of Trump's Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement

Abstract

Abstract Despite widespread democratic support for continued participation in the Paris Agreement, U.S. President Donald Trump decided to withdraw from it in June 2017. The decision signaled a democratic dysfunction in the face of climate change, one that will likely hold negative consequences for communities exposed and vulnerable to the effects of continued fossil fuel use and climate change. This article argues that Trump's decision opens 4 “pathways” by which these harms might be transmitted in the coming years: (1) by prolonging the viability of U.S. fossil fuel development; (2) by prolonging a period of slow and unambitious global climate action; (3) by extending to climate efforts a worldview that will open future climate policy up to reactionary resistance; and (4) by rescinding funding for adaptation projects in vulnerable communities.