Future Of Paris Climate Accord Is Shaky

Inside the Trump administration’s internal battle over the Paris Climate accord. Will the U.S. pull out? Plus: the latest on the Washington State nuclear site.

Right behind the Comey uproar, more big drama in the Trump administration. This one global. The White House this week put off – a little - a decision point on the Paris climate agreement. Trump said on the campaign trail he would cancel the US commitment to reining in greenhouse gases. There’s a battle royal inside the White House, we’re told. Big Republicans outside saying stay in. The whole world truly watching. This hour On Point, the US, climate change, and the Paris accord. — Tom Ashbrook

Coral Davenport, reporter for The New York Times, covering energy and environment policy. (@CoralMDavenport)

Todd Stern, former U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change and chief US negotiator for the Paris Climate Accord. (@tsterndc)

Myron Ebell, director of the Center for Energy and the Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Lead the Trump Administration’s EPA Transition Team. (@myronebell)

New York Times: Trump Administration Delays Decision on Leaving Climate Pact -- "With top presidential aides stubbornly divided, the White House abruptly announced on Tuesday that President Trump would make no decision on the United States’ future in the Paris climate change accord until June, after he returns from a meeting of the Group of 7 Western powers."

Washington Post: President Trump, stay in the Paris agreement. You’ll regret it if you don’t — "As a matter of diplomacy, withdrawing from the Paris agreement would be a stain on the legacies of both the president and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, an act of diplomatic malpractice. Countries large and small, rich and poor, are deeply invested in Paris because they understand the peril of climate change and know the Paris agreement cannot be truly effective without U.S. engagement. They would see withdrawal as a slap in the face, disrespecting their fundamental interests and, in turn, eroding the United States’ diplomatic capital."

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Considers What Steps U.S. Should Take on Climate Change Accord — "President Donald Trump is pressing to settle the U.S. position on the Paris Agreement on climate change before his first overseas trip later this month. White House officials were expected to close an internal debate on whether the U.S. should withdraw or take more measured steps, but a key meeting on the matter scheduled for Tuesday was postponed at the request of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who would have been unable to attend, an administration official said."

Anna King, Richland, WA correspondent for the Northwest News Network. (@AnnaKingN3)

Northwest News Network: What Is Actually In That Caved-In Tunnel At Hanford? — "Tuesday morning an emergency response was triggered at the Hanford nuclear site when a hole was found in the roof of a buried tunnel nearby a mothballed plutonium processing plant. The tunnel, constructed in the haste of the Cold War, was about 360-feet-long and built out of timbers and concrete."