WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions Forum (CRES Forum) launched a TV ad buy to encourage President Trump to remain in the Paris Climate Agreement. The advertisement, which will begin airing on Wednesday in Washington, cites support that the Agreement has received from private sector CEOs and encourages renegotiation of a better deal that will protect and create U.S. jobs.
“The U.S. has a prime opportunity to continue driving global discussions on economic growth, energy development, security, and protecting our natural environment,” said CRES Forum Director of Policy and Advocacy Charles Hernick. “CRES Forum encourages President Trump to keep the U.S. in the Paris Agreement and engage in negotiations to better suit our national interests. In doing so, the Administration can pursue domestic energy and job creation, ensure the continued adoption of innovative clean energy technologies, and foster the implementation of free market, all-of-the-above energy policies for years to come.”
The ad comes on the heels of a recent op-ed Hernick penned for The Hill and a memo CRES Forum shared with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Special Assistant for International Energy and Environment George David Banks last week. In both, CRES Forum offered four recommendations in support of a policy-focused dialogue for future negotiations under the United Nations framework.
- Re-envision UN-led financial institutions
- Prioritize multilateral banks over UN financial institutions
- Allow countries to count bi-lateral spending that has integrated climate change as Climate Finance
- Add a provision for third party verification of greenhouse gas reporting disputes
The TV ad highlights public polling from a 2016 study spearheaded by Yale and George Mason University that illustrated strong public support for the climate deal. In a nationally representative survey conducted after the election, they found that seven in ten registered voters (69%) say the U.S. should participate in the COP21 agreement, compared with only 13% who say the U.S. should not. Majorities of Democrats (86%) and Independents (61%), and half of Republicans (51%) say the U.S. should participate (including 73% of moderate/liberal Republicans). Only conservative Republicans are split, with marginally more saying the U.S. should participate (40%) than saying we should not participate (34%).
American CEOs have also been outspoken in their support for the Agreement, which was the focus of an open letter published in the Wall Street Journal earlier this month. Signers included:
- Inge Thulin, 3M
- James Gorman, Morgan Stanley
- Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan
- David Taylor, Procter & Gamble
- Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric
- Alex Gorsky, Johnson & Johnson
- Andrew Liveris, The Dow Chemical Company
- Elon Musk, Tesla
- Michael Corbat, Citigroup
- Bob Iger, The Disney Company
To watch CRES Forum’s TV ad, click here.
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CRES Forum is a 501(c)(3) non-partisan, non-profit organization committed to educating the public and influencing the national conversation about commonsense clean energy.