Pelosi on fight against climate change: The House is ‘still in it’

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told a United Nations summit on Monday that the Democratic-controlled House was “still in” the fight against climate change even following the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord.

At the opening of the 2019 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Pelosi addressed world leaders and pledged Congress’s support for efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“This is a mission, this is a passion, this is a scientifically-based approach, to all. We are here to say to all of you, on behalf of the House of Representatives and the Congress of the United States, ‘we’re still in it.'”

Nancy Pelosi on climate change, at the opening of the U.N. conference on climate change: “This is a mission, this is a passion, this is a scientifically-based approach, to all. We are here to say to all of you, on behalf of the House of Representatives … We’re still in it.” pic.twitter.com/mQUFhNf937

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 2, 2019

The Trump administration has been heavily criticized by Democrats including all of the top 2020 presidential contenders for President Trump’s decision to exit the accord, which seeks to limit the rise in global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius. Under Trump, the U.S. has instead expanded oil and natural gas production.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced earlier last month that the U.S. had formally begun the process of withdrawing from the landmark agreement, which would have put the U.S. on target to reduce emissions about 28 percent by 2025.

“President Trump made the decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement because of the unfair economic burden imposed on American workers, businesses, and taxpayers by U.S. pledges made under the Agreement,” Pompeo said in November. “The United States has reduced all types of emissions, even as we grow our economy and ensure our citizens’ access to affordable energy.”