US coal companies ask Trump to stick with Paris climate deal

Some big American coal companies have advised President Donald Trump’s administration to break his promise to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement on climate change, arguing that the accord could provide their best forum for protecting their global interests.

Remaining in the global deal to combat climate change will give US negotiators a chance to advocate for coal in the future of the global energy mix.

Reuters Newsagency reports, according to executives and a US official familiar with the discussions, coal companies such as Cloud Peak Energy and Peabody Energy had pressed this view with White House officials over the past few weeks.

“The future is foreign markets, so the last thing you want to do if you are a coal company is to give up a US seat in the international climate discussions and let the Europeans control the agenda,” said the official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak publicly on the issue.

“They can’t afford for the most powerful advocate for fossil fuels to be away from the table,” the official said.

Reuters reports Cloud Peak and Peabody officials confirmed the discussions.

In Cloud Peak’s view, staying in the agreement and trying to encourage “a more balanced, reasonable and appropriate path forward” on fossil fuel technologies among signatories to the accord seems like a reasonable stance, said Cloud Peak’s vice president of government affairs, Richard Reavey.

The coal industry was interested in ensuring that the Paris Agreement provided a role for low-emission coal-fired power plants and financial support for carbon capture and storage technology, the officials said.

They also want the pact to protect multilateral funding for international coal projects through bodies such as the World Bank.

The Paris Agreement, agreed by nearly 200 countries in 2015, would seek to limit global warming by slashing carbon dioxide and other emissions from burning fossil fuels.

As part of the deal, the US committed to reducing its emissions by between 26 per cent and 28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2025.

During his 2016 presidential campaign, Mr Trump vowed to pull the US out of the pact, tapping into a well of concern among his fellow Republicans that US energy habits would be policed by the United Nations.

However, since being elected, he has been mostly quiet on the issue, and administration officials have recently been asking energy companies for advice.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said last week that the administration expected to make a decision on whether to remain a party to the deal by the time leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy nations meet in late May.

The prospect of the US remaining in the Paris Agreement has irritated some smaller miners, including Murray Energy, whose chief executive, Robert Murray helped fund Mr Trump’s presidential bid.

Staying in the Paris Agreement could also face resistance from within President Trump’s party.

Reuters reports Republican Congressman Kevin Cramer has been circulating a letter among Republican politicians calling on the president to stay in the deal but has gathered only seven signatures so far.