Free Republic

The German chancellor had been hoping to isolate Donald Trump on climate issues at the upcoming G-20 summit in Hamburg. But Merkel’s hoped-for alliance is crumbling, underscoring Germany’s relative political weakness globally. Many countries are wary of angering the United States. German Chancellor Angela Merkel had actually thought that Canada’s young, charismatic prime minister, Justin Trudeau, could be counted among her reliable partners. Particularly when it came to climate policy. Just two weeks ago, at the G-7 summit in Sicily, he had thrown his support behind Germany. When Merkel took a confrontational approach to U.S. President Donald Trump, Trudeau was...

Despite heavy lobbying from G7 leaders, President Donald Trump declined to endorse the Paris Climate Agreement in a joint pledge of support for one of former President Barack Obama’s signature achievements in office. Trump’s decision upset world leaders like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, desperate to convince the president of the agreement’s merits. “The Paris deal isn’t just any other deal. It is a key agreement that shapes today’s globalization,” Merkel said, describing discussions with Trump about climate change “very unsatisfying.” For opponents of the agreement, the decision is a welcome development after the president’s economic adviser, Gary Cohn, told reporters...

Despite heavy lobbying from G7 leaders, President Donald Trump declined to endorse the Paris Climate Agreement in a joint pledge of support for one of former President Barack Obama’s signature achievements in office.

A new report claims policies to keep future global warming to internationally agreed upon limits by the end of the century could make the world $19 trillion richer. The report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) was one of two commissioned by the German government to help convince President Donald Trump to stay in the Paris agreement. If IRENA’s top-line findings sound too good to be true, that’s because they might be. The world would have to put $145 trillion into low-carbon energy to become $19 trillion richer by 2050 — a 13 percent return on investment over 33...