--- title: Rick Perry Says US, Trump Should Stay in Paris Agreement description: Energy Secretary Rick Perry says President Trump should keep the U.S. in the landmark international climate change deal, but "renegotiate." canonical: https://time.com/4754578/rick-perry-paris-agreement-trum-climate-change/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-25T19:45:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:14.357Z article:section: Politics og:title: Rick Perry Says U.S. Should 'Renegotiate' Paris Climate Agreement — But Not Withdraw og:description: Yet another Trump official backs the landmark climate change deal og:url: https://time.com/4754578/rick-perry-paris-agreement-trum-climate-change/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65841a8d1a9f43e5/6988ca94fb4eacf766891b11/rick-perry-bnef-paris-agreement.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5200 og:image:height: 2925 og:image:alt: rick perry bnef paris agreement og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rick Perry Says U.S. Should 'Renegotiate' Paris Climate Agreement — But Not Withdraw twitter:description: Yet another Trump official backs the landmark climate change deal twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65841a8d1a9f43e5/6988ca94fb4eacf766891b11/rick-perry-bnef-paris-agreement.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rick Perry Says U.S. Should 'Renegotiate' Paris Climate Agreement — But Not Withdraw > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=87f3e439-fd16-4433-aebc-e18ea50a4bc8&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: A Trump Presidency and the Future of Climate Change [Watch (HLS stream): A Trump Presidency and the Future of Climate Change](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/U3bhooK6.m3u8) (2:27)  _Published 2016-11-15. Donald Trump has repeatedly indicated that environmentalism is not his priority. Now, Climate scientists, policymakers and diplomats are questioning how his presidency will shape the future of climate change policy._  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 25, 2017 7:45 PM UTC  US Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry addresses employees for the first time at Energy Department headquarters in Washington, DC in March US Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry addresses employees for the first time at Energy Department headquarters in Washington, DC in March Smith Collection/Gado—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 25, 2017 7:45 PM UTC U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Tuesday that he supports remaining in the [Paris Agreement](http://time.com/4146764/paris-agreement-climate-cop-21/) but would like the country to “renegotiate” the landmark climate change accord. Perry’s comments come as President Trump is considering [whether to pull](http://time.com/4723481/donald-trump-paris-agreement-withdraw/) the U.S. from the agreement, a 2015 deal between nearly 200 nations that was considered a key part of the Obama administration’s climate change agenda. After postponing an earlier meeting, senior White House officials are [reportedly](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/25/paris-climate-change-deal-trump-advisers-meeting-237593) set to discuss their position Thursday. The Trump administration previously promised a decision by the end of May. As a candidate, Trump promised to get the U.S. out of the deal if elected. “I’m not going to tell the President of the United States let’s just walk away from the Paris Accord,” Perry said before leaders of the renewable energy industry at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) conference in New York. “But what I’m going to say is we probably need to renegotiate.” Perry’s remarks [reflect the thinking](http://time.com/4731582/coal-companies-climate-change-paris-agreement/) of a number of top officials inside the White House as well as certain leaders in the oil, gas and coal industries, who believe the U.S. can remain in the deal while reconsidering the terms of the nation’s commitments. Renegotiation of the entire deal would be next to impossible given that it entered into force last year after decades of talks. But the U.S. could unilaterally change its commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions without any concrete penalty. **Read More:** [This Climate Change Measure Has Fossil Fuel Companies and Green Groups Working Together](http://time.com/4662190/climate-change-green-fossil-fuel-companies-carbon/) Perry also offered support for renewable energy sources advanced through the free market, but suggested that the rapid growth in the sector over the last decade has come as the result of “the heavy hand of regulation.” During a question and answer period, Perry also suggested that increased reliance on renewable energy sources like wind and solar might make the grid unreliable given they only work when the sun is shining and the wind is blowing, creating national security concerns. The Trump administration might try to preempt state and local governments that use policy to encourage clean energy to address those concerns, Perry said. “There’s a discussion, some of it very classified that will be occurring as we go further,” Perry said. “The conversation needs to happen so the local governors and legislators, mayors and city council understand what’s at stake here in making sure that our energy security is substantial.” Ethan Zindler, the Americas head at BNEF who led the question and answer period, responded that the notion of preemption would “send shudders” to companies invested in renewable energy. Indeed, many energy analysts disagree that expanded use of renewable energy will make the grid unreliable, citing new forms of energy storage and technology that help mitigate risk and over-use. **Read More:** [Donald Trump Says He’ll Bring Back Coal. Here’s Why He Can’t](http://time.com/4570070/donald-trump-coal-jobs/) Perry’s comments follow a number of new policies and directives from the Trump administration aimed at reviving the coal industry at the expense of clean energy. Trump signed an [executive order](http://time.com/4713731/donald-trump-climate-change-executive-order-president-obama-epa/) in March that could undo Obama’s [Clean Power Plan](http://time.com/3981535/white-house-clean-power-plan/), which requires states to move away from coal-fired power plants, and earlier this month Perry [ordered a study](https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-04-15/electric-grid-study-ordered-by-u-s-energy-chief-to-boost-coal) of the electric grid to support his argument that the U.S. cannot rely too heavily on renewable energy. Renewable energy analysts say their business remains strong because the cost of wind and solar power continues to decline just as solutions like battery storage continue to develop. “Can they slow growth?” asked Gregory S. Wetstone, CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy, a non-profit that advocates for renewable energy. “Not a lot, but it’s disturbing to see a signal like that.” ## Transcript [00:00] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [00:03] Donald Trump has called climate change a hoax. It'll [00:05] get cooler, it'll get warmer. It's called weather. Now [00:07] that he's President- elect, here's what at stake for the [00:09] future of the environment. Thank you. Paris Agreement [00:13] which was negotiated last year and came into effect [00:16] just a few weeks ago was a monumental step for [00:19] addressing climate change. And setting a path forward [00:22] for the coming decades to reduce greenhouse gas [00:24] emissions. Donald Trump has promised to cancel the [00:27] Paris agreement, or at the very least, renegotiate it. [00:30] Stop all payments of the United States tax dollars to UN [00:35] Global Warming Programs. He does not have the [00:37] authority to cancel it. It's an agreement with more than [00:41] 190 countries. He also doesn't have the power to [00:44] withdraw from it. Immediately at least, it would take at [00:47] least three years to go through those processes. He [00:50] does have the power to ignore it. It's unlikely that other [00:54] countries will feel comfortable making big reductions in [00:56] their greenhouse gas emissions, if the United States is [00:59] not taking the lead. Another policy at stake is Obama's [01:02] clean power plan. [ APPLAUSE ] Single most [01:07] important step America has ever taken in the fight [01:10] against global Climate change. Trump has said that he [01:12] would cancel it. Environmental Protection, what they do [01:16] is a disgrace. Every week they come out with new [01:18] regulations. He has the authority to do that. He could [01:20] direct the EPA to eliminate the clean power plan. We'll [01:24] be fine with the environment. We can leave a little bit, [01:27] but you can't destroy businesses He will definitely if he [01:30] does face litigation from environmental groups that will [01:34] argue that it's the EPA's role to do that. It's a long [01:38] winding process. And certainly not something that he's [01:40] going to be able to accomplish in his first 100 days. [01:45] Environmentalists are trying to remain Optimistic and [01:47] looking at a lot of the market trends that have resulted [01:50] in the reduction in coal power and other greenhouse [01:55] gas emissions. A lot of it is outside of the realm of [01:57] regulation. But also trying to stay optimistic about the [02:01] Paris agreement. Some of them say even if Donald [02:04] Trump Withdraws, they are confident that other [02:06] countries will step up to the plate. I'm 16 years old [02:09] from Mwanza, Tanzania. Looking forward, there's a lot [02:11] of things that Trump can do to slow progress on [02:14] climate change, but many of the trends he doesn't [02:16] have control over. So there is reason for optimism if [02:20] you're looking in the long- term. 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