Opinion: Climate losers

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Thursday, June 1, 2017 [NYTimes.com/Opinion »]( [David Leonhardt] David Leonhardt Op-Ed Columnist If President Trump pulls the United States out of the Paris climate treaty, he would hurt the planet, make people ([especially children]( sicker and aggravate geopolitical tensions. But you probably knew much of that. Less obviously, he would also do substantial damage to American interests — the country’s global power and its economy. An exit from the Paris accord would be a remarkable lose-lose proposition: bad for the rest of the world and bad for the United States. This is lost on Trump and his aides for many reasons, but one is their oversimplified, zero-sum understanding of international affairs. “The world is not a ‘global community,’” H.R. McMaster and Gary Cohn, two of the most [highly regarded]( Trump advisers, [wrote]( in The Wall Street Journal, “but an arena where nations, nongovernmental actors and businesses engage and compete for advantage.” If something is bad for the rest of the world, it’s probably good for America, according to this view. The miserable irony of a Paris withdrawal is how bad it would actually be for the United States. An exit would, as Hannah Waters of the Audubon Society [tweeted]( “accelerate U.S. decline. World economy moves towards renewables; U.S. left behind.” Both Waters and [John Upton of the nonprofit Climate Central]( noted that virtually the only industry that favors an exit from the accord is coal (and [not even]( all of coal). Other energy industries understand that their future success depends on growing renewable energy. Trump, alas, seems happy to do coal’s bidding — at the expense of the rest of the country and the rest of the world. He probably won’t even succeed at bringing back many coal jobs, as Paul Krugman has [written](. For a needed dose of hope on this potentially dark day, I recommend: — Waters’s Twitter feed, which [points out]( that, even with an American exit, the accord today includes countries accounting for about 65 percent of global emissions; when it was ratified, that number — including the United States — was 55 percent. — A Rhodium Group [report]( (via David Roberts), which points out that America’s “ability to meet its 2025 Paris commitment will depend in large part on the outcome of the 2020 Presidential election.” — And the work of [Michael Bloomberg]( and [various]( [groups]( [connected]( [with]( [him]( which emphasizes the impact that states, local governments, companies and others can still have on the climate. The full Opinion report from The Times follows, including Nicholas Kristof on [American heroism in Portland]( and an Op-Doc on [children who race Shetland ponies](. Editorial [Rule-Benders Require New Rules]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD Ethical regulations weren’t written with this sort of administration in mind. Tougher laws are needed to maintain the standards we’ve expected. Op-Ed Columnist [The Complexities of James Comey]( By CHARLES M. BLOW Is it fair to harbor some hostility toward Comey while still cheering his coming confrontation with Trump? Op-Ed Columnist [Oh Dear. The Trumps Keep Multiplying.]( By GAIL COLLINS The family is so busy, their government and personal interests are a blur. Op-Ed Columnist [On a Portland Train, the Battlefield of American Values]( By NICHOLAS KRISTOF The best of our nation materialized against the worst on a fateful commute in Oregon. ADVERTISEMENT Contributing Op-Ed Writer [Has the Democratic Party Gotten Too Rich for Its Own Good?]( By THOMAS B. EDSALL In the past, Democrats could support progressive policies knowing that the costs would fall largely on Republicans. Not anymore. Contributing Op-Ed Writer [Trump’s Budget Cuts? More Like Radical Surgery]( By STEVEN RATTNER Trump’s plan takes numerical dishonesty to a new level as part of an effort to gut Medicaid and other programs while cutting taxes on the rich. Editorial [Disarming the Domestic Abuser]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD More states are doing what Congress won’t, keeping guns away from people who harmed intimate partners. Sarah Mazzetti [Op-Ed Contributor]( [The Womb Is No Protection From Toxic Chemicals]( By FREDERICA PERERA Chemical exposures, infectious diseases and air pollution all threaten the brain development of babies. Contributing Opinion Writer [Trump and Merkel Hate Each Other. So What?]( By ANNA SAUERBREY The U.S. and Europe can work together without being friends. Contributing Op-Ed Writer [What the Russian Revolution Can Teach Us About Trump]( By IVAN KRASTEV A lot more than you might imagine. Op-Ed Contributor [Donald Trump’s Twitter Comedy]( By ANNA NORTH The president’s Twitter presence bears an uncanny resemblance to certain strains of absurdist Twitter humor. Op-Docs [Shetland Pony Grand National]( By CABELL HOPKINS A pony-riding quest for speed and glory in Britain. Op-Ed Contributor [In the Philippines, All the President’s People]( By NICOLE CURATO Many Filipinos like Rodrigo Duterte because they see him as the rare politician who doesn’t forget about them. HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [opinionnewsletter@nytimes.com](mailto:opinionnewsletter@nytimes.com?subject=Opinion%20Today%20Newsletter%20Feedback). ADVERTISEMENT THE CONSCIENCE OF A LIBERAL | PAUL KRUGMAN [On The US-Germany Imbalance]( By PAUL KRUGMAN An unromantic triangle. From The Archives | Op-Ed Contributor [Climate Progress, With or Without Trump]( By MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG Don’t overestimate Washington’s influence on energy markets, or underestimate the role of cities, states, businesses and consumers in cutting emissions. From The Archives | Op-Ed Contributors [The Business Case for the Paris Climate Accord]( By GEORGE P. SHULTZ AND TED HALSTEAD Remaining in the treaty would spur new investment, strengthen American competitiveness, create jobs and ensure access to global markets. Letters [How Trump’s Proposed Budget Cuts Would Hurt]( Readers lament possible cuts to social services, medical research, national service programs and Superfund cleanups. SIGN UP FOR THE VIETNAM ’67 NEWSLETTER Examining America’s long war in Southeast Asia [through the course]( of a single year. 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