France Edits White House Video on Climate Accord, Taunting the United States

United States President Donald Trump has made his decision regarding the Paris Climate Accord on Thursday, June 1, choosing to withdraw the United States from the agreement.  Because of this decision, France has responded in a spiteful way, remaking a White House video and portraying the United States in a poor light.

            The White House video first explained why the Paris Climate Accord was a “bad deal” for the United States—the remake of the video explains why the decision to leave the agreement was not only a detriment to the United States, but also a setback for the rest of the world.  Hilary Clarke of CNN writes, “The video, posted on Twitter by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, is France’s latest challenge of President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the United Nations-brokered deal, which seeks to limit global temperature rises by 2100 to 2 degrees Celsius above levels recorded before industrialization.  In the original 40-second US video, the first slide reads, ‘The Paris Accord is a bad deal for America.’  The new French version tweaks that line to read, ‘Leaving the Paris Accord is a bad deal for America and the world.’”

Going on to debunk arguments made by the original White House video, the altered French version added slides with edited texts, adding that “Major US companies from all sectors such as Exxon Mobil, Schneider Electric or Microsoft, disagree [with President Trump’s decision].”

French President Emmanuel Macron led the international press against the United States’ decision to leave the accord, becoming one of the three countries—along with Syria and Nicaragua—to withdraw from the agreement.  Trump says, “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” as he justifies his decision regarding the issue, but Macron responds that United States participation will help to “make the planet great again,” playing off Trump’s presidential campaign slogan.

Adding evidence from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the White House stated that the institution believed the accord to be a complication for the United States—the White House happened to misinterpret that information.  Co-director John Reilly of the MIT Joint Program says that Trump showed, “a complete misunderstanding of the climate problem.”  He adds, “I think Paris was a very good deal for the United States, contrary to what they are claiming.  This one small step with Paris is a necessary step.  It is an incredibly important step.  If we don’t take the step, then we aren’t prepared to take the next step.”

Regardless of this decision, many citizens of the word are affected by it.  While some may support the decision, others disagree; it is now a matter of time to see how the decision will play out.