In response to the United States signing the Arctic Council Fairbanks Declaration which includes commitments to climate change action and reducing long-term greenhouse gasses and short-term pollutants, Greenpeace USA Christina-Alexa Liakos said,
“By retaining climate change language in the Arctic Council Fairbanks declaration, the Arctic States’ ministers blocked Secretary Tillerson and the Trump administration’s latest attempt to cement the United States’ global pariah status. This move comes after people around the country, business and political communities and global leaders applied public pressure to the Trump administration calling for a stronger role from the United States regarding climate change and the Paris agreement. This week, Alaska activists and residents applied that pressure directly to US officials attending the Arctic Council meetings, including Secretary Tillerson, with airport greetings and rallies outside of the meeting venue.
Despite the survival of climate change language from the Arctic Council, the Trump administration is still threatening to pull out of the Paris Agreement and has introduced steps to open up offshore drilling off all US coasts, including in Alaska which is already experiencing the the worst effects of climate change. Those who have shown up to rallies, contacted their representatives and expressed outrage about a reversal in global momentum towards renewable energy must keep up the pressure if we are to salvage more than just language about climate change.”
Contact:
Cassady Craighill, [email protected], 828-817-3328
