Today, Congressman Stephen F. Lynch (D-Boston) released the following statement in response to President Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement:

“President Trump risks irreparably damaging America’s future generations by abandoning the Paris Climate Agreement. The daunting challenges posed by global climate change cannot be effectively addressed by using a piecemeal country- or region-specific approach, but rather require a full spectrum response which grapples with the near-term challenges anticipated in the next 30 years while of course re-engineering the way we live so that we actually shift the sustainability curve over the next century, buying time, so to speak, for future generations to undo the environmental damage sustained thus far. I currently serve as the lead Democrat on the Subcommittee on National Security and climate change is increasingly acknowledged and discussed as a top national security priority. Without action, the effects of global climate change will exacerbate geopolitical instability and threaten to displace millions of people across the world. It would be a national embarrassment for the United States to stand down while we allow China and others to lead the fight against the greatest global threat facing the earth. We should not leave it to others to rescue us from the devastating impacts of severe weather and rising sea levels and the degradation of our environment. Massachusetts has taken a leadership role in responding to climate change and I strongly believe the United States must have a global leadership role as well. I have cosponsored H. Res. 85, which expresses the United States House of Representatives’ commitment to support the Paris Climate Agreement, and I will work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the House and the Senate to develop commonsense approaches to climate change at the federal level.”