At December’s U.N. conference on climate change (COP24), Trump administration officials defended fossil fuels and argued that economic growth was more important than a sustainable environment. The move reinforced the president’s 2017 decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris agreement, which he has criticized as unfair for requiring the country to sacrifice too much and letting developing nations do too little — pointing particularly to China, the world’s top emitter of greenhouse gases.
But do Americans agree with President Trump’s “fairness” argument? With the president doubling down on both international and domestic issues, the answer could be politically significant. CONT.
Jonathon P. Schuldt & Y. Connie Yuan (Cornell), Monkey Cage
Recent polls: Global warming