US becoming a rogue nation under Trump’s leadership: Analyst

The United States is rapidly becoming a rogue nation under the leadership of Republican President Donald Trump, according to Myles Hoenig, an American political analyst and activist. 

Hoenig, a former Green Party candidate for Congress, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Friday while commenting on Trump’s announcement to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

"We're getting out," Trump announced at a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden on Thursday.

"In order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate accord," Trump said, adding that “the Paris accord is very unfair at the highest level to the United States.”

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Hoenig said, “One can argue whether the Paris Agreement would actually be effective but it would be based on where one is coming from.”

“There are those who recognize the need to seriously address climate change vs. those who are afraid that it would have a negative impact on American businesses. Biggest problem with it is that it is not legally binding and that much is put off some years down the road. That we have a global agreement on an issue that has been so contentious is remarkable in that alone,” he said.

“President Trump has argued that it would hurt American jobs and move us away from the coal industry, like that would be a bad thing. He is relying on dirty coal remaining as the dominant energy source for years to come, giving short shrift to renewable energy and energy reduction,” he added.

“We see major divisions within his cabinet but the demarcation lines are clear. Those who are American nationalist/American Firsters/climate change deniers support the pulling out of the treaty. Those who support global cooperation and recognize the disastrous consequences of climate change have opposed the move,” he noted.

‘Profit in being on the climate change bandwagon’

“Regardless of the politics, most would agree that the US gained to win enormously by staying in the agreement. It put all nations on an equal footing as well as gives clarity to the market forces involved in climate change,” the analyst stated.

“Yet one of the main consequences for the US is the politics of it. In many ways, the US has often been the lone wolf dragging other countries into its capitalist and imperialist schemes. For once, this lone wolf remains alone in the world, even ceding to the Chinese for being the #1 in renewable energy,” the activist said.

“The US going alone may or may not have enormous negative consequences on the environment, but many major US businesses will continue to abide by the spirit of the agreement, not that there was much in accountability or it being legally binding. They see the profit in being on the climate change bandwagon,” he observed.

“As a lone wolf, the US is rapidly becoming a rogue state under Trump. That in itself could be positive, as the US has often led the world down a path of imperialism, war mongering, and extreme capitalism.  Unfortunately though, other nations will now fill that void, but maybe not with the same ‘gusto’ as that of the US,” he concluded.

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