COP29 climate summit begins today in Baku. Will it be the last for the U.S.?
CBSNov 11
Podesta to COP29: US Committed to Climate Fight Under Trump
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Above: John Podesta speaks at COP29 on Nov. 11, 2024. Image copyright: Sean Gallup / Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
At the UN COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan on Monday, the US climate envoy, John Podesta, said that Donald Trump's re-election as president wouldn't stop the country from participating in actions to reduce climate change.
Podesta acknowledged that Trump is likely to fulfill his promises to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and repeal several climate-related initiatives implemented during the Biden administration, including the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
The Spin
Republican narrative
It was an aggressively unpatriotic move by Podesta to go in front of an international audience to trash Trump and, in turn, America. Democrats' hate for the US knows no bounds. Trump knows that climate alarmism is a movement with little supporting evidence. If the COP29 countries were truly worried, they'd do more to hold China accountable, rather than look askew at Trump.
Democratic narrative
Trump's anti-climate agenda may be looming over COP29, but Pres. Biden can still do things to keep the US in the mix with other countries concerned about climate change. By rejecting pending permits for fossil fuel projects and committing more funding for smaller countries that want to green their economies, Biden can at least make it difficult for Trump to roll things back in his next term.
