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Michael Moore brands Donald Trump's decision to pull out of Paris Agreement 'a crime against humanity'

'This admitted predator has now expanded his predatory acts to the entire planet'

Rachel Roberts
Friday 02 June 2017 20:12 BST
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Trump pulls US out of Paris climate change deal

Filmmaker Michael Moore has branded President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement a “crime against humanity”.

The left-wing commentator, who has been a frequent critic of Mr Trump’s, said on Twitter: “This admitted predator has now expanded his predatory acts to the entire planet.”

“USA to Earth. F*** YOU,” he added, in a series of tweets. “America First! Earth last! My name is Michael Moore. I am an American. And I live in a Rogue State.”

Mr Trump caused worldwide outrage when he confirmed this week his administration would withdraw from the Paris climate accord, fulfilling a key pledge from his 2016 presidential campaign.

“In order to fulfil my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord,” Mr Trump said, arguing the deal was harmful to US manufacturing and was costing jobs.

“The bottom line is that the Paris accord is very unfair at the highest level to the United States,“ he said. ”We are getting out, but we will start to negotiate and we will see if we can make a deal that is fair.“

The US is currently the world’s second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, behind China. Mr Obama had pledged to cut the nation’s emissions by 26-28 per cent by 2025.

His decision puts the US at odds with nearly 200 other nations who are working together on the world’s first major agreement aimed at combatting climate change, signed in 2015 by his predecessor Barack Obama.

The agreement consists of individual greenhouse gas limits that each signatory nation was allowed to determine in the negotiation process.

Mr Obama led the chorus of disapproval after Mr Trump confirmed his decision to pull out, saying the Trump administration had decided to join “the small handful of nations that reject the future".

Mr Obama had repeatedly said that signing up to the deal was one of his proudest moments as President.

Prime minister Theresa May was less strident in her condemnation of Mr Trump’s decision.

In a statement, Downing Street said the Prime Minister “expressed her disappointment with the decision and stressed that the UK remained committed to the Paris Agreement".

France’s newly elected President Emmanuel Macron told Mr Trump in a telephone conversation that “nothing could be renegotiated” regarding Paris climate accord, Reuters news agency reported.

Ms May was the only European G7 leader not to sign her name to a joint statement condemning Mr Trump’s decision. The leaders of Italy, Germany and France said in the statement the agreement was a “vital instrument for our planet, societies and economies".

Mr Moore is currently making a film about Mr Trump entitled Fahrenheit 11/9, a reference to the day Trump was declared President of the United States, teaming up once more with Weinstein brothers with whom he made the film Fahrenheit 9/11, a critique of the George W Bush administration.

The outspoken filmmaker said of his motivation to make the film: “No matter what you throw at him, it hasn’t worked. No matter what is revealed, he remains standing. Facts, reality, brains cannot defeat him. Even when he commits a self-inflicted wound, he gets up the next morning and keeps going and tweeting. That all ends with this movie.”

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