In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order immediately following his swearing-in to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. This was among several executive orders, including one halting offshore wind facilities. 

“It is the policy of my Administration to put the interests of the United States and the American people first in the development and negotiation of any international agreements with the potential to damage or stifle the American economy,” reads the order. “These agreements must not unduly or unfairly burden the United States. The United States Ambassador to the United Nations shall immediately submit formal written notification of the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.”

The Paris Agreement of 2015 was a United Nations agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions and control the rise of global temperatures. Under the first Trump administration, the United States exited the agreement on Nov 4, 2020. However, former President Joe Biden re-entered the agreement immediately following his swearing-in on January 20, 2021. 

“Developed country Parties should continue taking the lead by undertaking economy-wide absolute emission reduction targets,” according to the agreement. “Developing country Parties should continue enhancing their mitigation efforts, and are encouraged to move over time towards economy-wide emission reduction or limitation targets in the light of different national circumstances.” 

Experts have presented evidence showing that despite the withdrawal, the United States has far outpaced other nations in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Data backing this up go back as far as 2005, ten years before the Paris Agreement was even signed. 

“The U.S. has cut more carbon dioxide emissions from energy since 2005 (the Paris Agreement’s benchmark) than any other country in the world,” wrote Jon Sanders, Director of the Center for Food Power and Life at the John Locke Foundation. “Since 2005, electricity-based carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the United States have fallen by 1,234.14 million metric tons, per the 2024 Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy.”

Screenshot from Why America Leaving the Paris Agreement Is No Big Deal

The state of North Carolina has reduced carbon emissions by more than half (52%), according to the JLF report. 

Screenshot from Why America Leaving the Paris Agreement is No Big Deal.

“The U.S. has cut 1,234.14 million metric tons of CO2 emissions, while China has added 5,139.12 million metric tons,” according to the report. 

Nations like China and India are negating emissions reduction in the United States. China’s emissions alone have quadrupled what the United States has cut. 

“The truth is, the US has cut more energy-based CO2 emissions than any other nation,” said Sanders. “We don’t need Paris. We never did.”