On June 1, President Donald Trump fulfilled a campaign promise to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. The POTUS cited “onerous energy restrictions” and “draconian financial and economic burdens” of the international climate accord, which aims to mitigate global warming. He went on to affirm that under his administration, the country “will be environmentally friendly, but we’re not going to put our businesses out of work and we’re not going to lose our jobs.”
The announcement set off a flurry of responses from governments and organizations around the world—including many in the design community. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) president Thomas Vonier expressed concern that the withdrawal would “put us behind our major global competitors” in a statement issued that afternoon. Vonier’s words were quickly endorsed by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and the International Union of Architects. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) president and CEO Mahesh Ramanujam said in a statement that he was “deeply disappointed” with the news, while Royal Institute of British Architects president Jane Duncan condemned the move as “one of the most regressive decisions of our time.”
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