--- title: Business Wants to Stop Trump From Leaving Kigali Amendment description: Industry leaders are lobbying to keep the Kigali Amendment in place, arguing that it could create American jobs. canonical: https://time.com/5264800/donald-trump-kigali-amendment-hfcs/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-05-03T20:25:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:08:36.747Z article:section: Politics og:title: Big Business Wants to Stop Trump From Leaving This Other Climate Deal og:description: They say ratifying it would create American jobs og:url: https://time.com/5264800/donald-trump-kigali-amendment-hfcs/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ade99813c0cbb8e/69892f7b97cdff75f66b520b/donald-trump-climate-change-paris-agreement-kigali-amendment.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2736 og:image:height: 1539 og:image:alt: donald trump climate change paris agreement kigali amendment og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Big Business Wants to Stop Trump From Leaving This Other Climate Deal twitter:description: They say ratifying it would create American jobs twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ade99813c0cbb8e/69892f7b97cdff75f66b520b/donald-trump-climate-change-paris-agreement-kigali-amendment.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Big Business Wants to Stop Trump From Leaving This Other Climate Deal > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=58576a3f-39f1-4fc8-8646-5afa9710a743&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Legal Reasons Why President Trump Won't Take A Stand On Climate Change [Watch (HLS stream): The Legal Reasons Why President Trump Won't Take A Stand On Climate Change](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mia6Tcb8.m3u8) (2:11)  _Published 2017-09-26. The Legal Reasons Why President Trump Won't Take A Stand On Climate Change_  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent May 3, 2018 8:25 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent May 3, 2018 8:25 PM UTC The Trump Administration has sought to undo Barack Obama’s legacy on climate change at every turn — from withdrawing from the Paris Agreement to scrapping EPA regulations — arguing that addressing global warming hurts American industry. In doing so, Trump has earned the praise of his base and several key industries that supported his candidacy. But now the tables have turned. The Administration faces a decision on another key climate agreement that would reduce emissions of global warming-causing hydrofluorocarbons, known as HFCs for short, used as a refrigerant, but this one is backed by Big Business. Industry leaders are pulling out the stops to convince Trump that the 2016 deal, formally known as the [Kigali Amendment](http://time.com/4532377/climate-change-kigali-agreement-air-conditioners/) to the Montreal Protocol, will create American jobs and that the Administration should submit it to the Senate for ratification. U.S. companies have traditionally led development of refrigerant products, used in air conditioning and other appliances, and the deal would create new demand for such expertise and products across the globe. If the U.S. does not ratify it, other countries could surpass the U.S. position as the global leader in the industry. A new [report](http://www.alliancepolicy.org/downloads/press-releases/Kigali%5FEconomic%5FReport.pdf) from the trade groups Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute and the Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy, which counts large U.S. companies such as Dow and Carrier among its members, argues that the deal will “strengthen America’s exports and weaken the market for imported products.” “Without Kigali ratification, growth opportunities will be lost along with the jobs to support that growth, the trade deficit will grow, and the U.S. share of global export markets will decline,” the report says. The report estimates the U.S. would gain a total of 33,000 additional jobs by 2027 and $12.5 billion in annual economic output solely as a result of ratifying the deal. Ratification would also reduce the deficit, according to the report. The document — released Thursday — has been sent to the White House, EPA and State Department. The White House does not have an official position on the Kigali Amendment, but at least one Trump official has suggested in the past that evidence that the deal supports jobs might help earn the Administration’s support. “If the president does decide to support Kigali … it will largely be because he wants to create U.S. jobs,” George David Banks, former White House international energy and environment advisor, told a crowd at the Hudson Institute think tank in February. Banks has since [departed](http://time.com/5158520/white-house-resignation-george-david-banks/) and it remains unclear how other Trump officials view the deal. If Trump decides to support the agreement, it will need to go to the Senate for approval before the U.S. can ratify it formally, Banks said in February. Despite the business support for the Kigali Amendment, the deal could face headwind given Trump’s disdain for climate change policy and his apparent desire to overturn anything that has Obama’s stamp of approval on it. At the time the deal was negotiated, scientists said that it could prevent a 0.5°C (0.9°F) rise in temperature by 2100\. That represents significant progress toward the goal embedded in the [Paris Agreement](http://time.com/4146764/paris-agreement-climate-cop-21/) of keeping temperature rise below 2°C (3.6°F) by 2100. ## Transcript As a candidate Donald Trump had no problem giving his opinion about climate change. So Obama's talking about all of this with the global warming, and a lot of it's a hoax, it's a hoax, I mean it's a money making industry okay . >> But as president he won't say what he things and neither will his administration. The president himself during the campaign called climate change a hoax. Have you had that conversation with him? I have not had that conversation with him. He no longer believes what he tweeted during the course of the campaign in years earlier, that it's a hoax? Look, you're gonna have to ask him. I'll ask it one more time. Does he believe global warming's a hoax? Does he believe- You should ask him that. When asked their own opinions, other members of the Trump administration generally agree the climate is changing and humans may play a role. Climate is changing, it always has. Man at this particular point in time is having an effect on it, how much effect is what's at debate here. So why is Trump himself so cagey? Part of it is political, polls show the majority of Americans believe global warming is real and is caused by human activities. Part of it personal, Trump does not like to admit he was wrong about an issue in the past As can be seen from his brief and begrudging admission this his crusade over President Obama's birth certificate was mistaken. President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period. But there's a legal reason too. The Environmental Protection Agency has found that the greenhouse gases, which cause climate change Are a form of pollution that endanger human health and wellbeing. And thanks to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling, that means the EPA must act on those findings. If the Trump Administration were to say climate change isn't real it would be open to lawsuits from environmentalists for not acting on its own EPA findings. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is careful to say that it's real in some form. I indicated That in fact global warming is occurring. That human activity contributes to it in some manner. That doesn't mean the EPA has to keep the Obama administration's plans in place. In fact members of the Trump adminstration have been steadily rolling back regulations designed to fight climate change. They just can't say they're doing that. Because climate change isn't real. 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