The United States Climate Alliance : a communicative action perspective

Abstract

On June 1, 2017, US President Trump announced the United States decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. This announcement sprouted a lot of debates and criticisms, locally and internationally. Later that same day, the governors of Washington, New York and California announced the formation of the United States Climate Alliance to act towards the goal of the Paris Agreement despite the decision of the US federal government. It did not take long until they become 23 member US state governments that is made up of half of the US population. The Alliance serves as a forum where the US governors interact towards their action to fight climate change and commit efforts towards the goal of the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions up to 26-28% by 2025. This thesis asks how do the Trump administration justify its decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement despite being the second largest emitter in the world. It finds that the Trump administration positions American people (coal manufacturing businesses, taxpayers, working class, families) as victims of the withdrawal narrative. It also finds that it puts itself in the hero narrative, asserting in putting and protecting America first for the welfare of Americans. It demerits the Paris Agreement as a bad deal, big disadvantage to American economy, redistributing wealth of United States to the exclusive benefits of other countries. It also asks how does the US state governors disputed the withdrawal. It finds that the US governors condemned the withdrawal as “shameful” and “irresponsible”, thus forming the United States Alliance to act towards Paris Agreement goals and urging other US state governors to join the important action towards security with the shared understanding of the reality of climate change.