The jobs at risk if Trump pulls the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement

Donald Trump campaigned on the promise to ‘Make America Great Again’ largely by bringing jobs back to Middle America. Yet his move to pull the U.S. out of the international Paris climate accord threatens millions of jobs in the very states that voted Trump into office.

The growth of the clean energy industry in the U.S. has created millions of jobs across the country. Among the states that Trump won in the 2016 election, Texas and Florida have the most residents employed in solar, wind and energy efficiency industries. Texas leads the nation in producing wind energy; if it were its own country, Texas would rank fourth among the leading wind producing countries.

At the same time, the American solar industry is growing exponentially. In 2016, the industry hit a new milestone: one million installations nationwide.

Since his inauguration, Trump has maintained his campaign commitment to revitalize the coal industry, blaming environmental regulations — not market forces — for its demise. The president’s focus on the coal industry, which is responsible for the majority of climate change-causing carbon emissions, ignores the unstoppable growth of the clean energy industry and its potential for creating millions of jobs. As of 2015, the solar industry alone employed more than three times as many Americans as the coal industry.

By withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, the U.S. would not only be turning its back on the 190+ other countries in the agreement, it would also threaten the momentum of the clean energy economy. The Paris Agreement delivered a signal to businesses, governments and the public to take climate action in every from, including investment in the renewable industry.

If Trump were to enact his threat of pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement, he would be directly responsible for putting 1.2 million clean energy jobs of his supporters at risk.