Climate Accord Opt-Out Won’t Change Automakers’ Commitments

DETROIT, MI — Detroit’s two largest automakers signaled Thursday that they won’t walk back commitments to produce cleaner cars that emit lower emissions, but environmentalists blasted President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord, saying Michigan already is reeling from the effects of climate change. Trump said the deal signed by former President Obama in 2015 and ratified by most U.S. allies could cause American employers to shed as many as 2.7 million jobs, including 440,000 manufacturing jobs, by 2025.

In a speech in the Rose Garden Thursday, Trump said it’s “time to put Youngstown, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, along with many, many other locations within our great country before Paris, France.”

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Both General Motors and Ford Motor Co. issued statements in support of global efforts to reduce emissions. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Detroit Patch, click here to find your local Michigan Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

“International agreements aside, we remain committed to creating a better environment. We publicly advocate for climate action and awareness and remain the only automaker to have signed the Ceres Climate Declaration and one of the first companies to sign the American Business Act on Climate Pledge,” GM said.

GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra will remain on Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum, the automaker said, noting “a seat at an important table to contribute to a constructive dialogue about key policy issues.” That came after electric carmaker Tesla Inc. founder Elon Musk said he would step down from forums advising Trump as a result of the president’s decision to opt out of the Paris Climate Accord.

Former Ford CEO and President Mark Fields also advised Trump on his manufacturing council, but it’s unclear if he will remain after Ford’s recent management shakeup. But Ford said climate change, which Trump called a “hoax” during the campaign, is a real phenomenon and that it is committed to its strategy to reduce greenhouse gasses both in its vehicles and facilities.

“Our commitment to sustainability is why we’re investing so heavily in electrification and adding 13 new electrified vehicles to our line-up,” Ford said in a statement.

See Also: God’s Got Climate Change, Michigan Rep Says

Meanwhile, Mike Berkowitz, legislative and political director of the Sierra Club’s Michigan Chapter, said climate change already is having an effect on the state’s apple and cherry crops and other agricultural enterprises.

“I think we’ve have been disproportionately disadvantaged because of climate change,” Berkowitz told The Detroit News. “For the past few years, we’ve had major disruption to apple crops, our cherry crops, which are huge industries in Michigan. And climate change is making weather patterns more extreme and causing more issues with our crops and affecting our tourism, natural resources and our agriculture industry.”

Citing a report from the Environmental Defense Fund, Berkowitz said Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement hurts the growing renewable energy sector, where wind and solar energy jobs are growing at a rate 12 times faster than the rest of the U.S. economy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also said that through 2024, wind turbine service technician jobs will grow faster than the average for all occupations.

“On top of that, these jobs also protect the planet,” he said. “It’s a win-win on all aspects.”

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images News/Getty Images