I was never much enthused by the Paris Agreement; too much hype and hope as opposed to proper targets and legal enforcement. It was, of course, the best deal on offer at the time.
Now that the US government has walked away, this should not mean the end of the US involvement. This is a chance for American business — I'm calling it InstantSpottyFaceMcGoogleColaTube — to step forward and sign up for good of the planet (and their future revenues). After all, as Bernie Sanders might have argued, why should the poor American taxpayer stump up when InstantSpottyFaceMcGoogleColaTube already has their money?
The only people to really enjoy the US withdrawal were the EU's 32 presidents. Did you see them? They could hardly contain their glee at the chance for another bit of grandstanding and sanctimonious Trump-bashing. One of the benefits of a hard Brexit (maybe the only one) will be end of having to listen to smug Germans lecturing us about the evils of carbon while they burn mega-tonnes of dirty brown coal (lignite). This, in 2015, contributed more than solar and wind combined to the country's electricity supply. See energy-charts.de for the current position.
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