Protests, new climate pledges after Trump's Paris pullout

BRUSSELS (AP) - Environmental campaigners protested Friday against President Donald Trump's decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord, while nations around the world pledged to double down on their efforts to curb global warming in response to the U.S. move. In Berlin, Greenpeace activists projected Trump's silhouette onto the side of the U.S. embassy along with the words "#TotalLoser, so sad!" Hours later German Chancellor Angela Merkel summoned reporters for an impromptu statement in which she called Trump's decision "extremely regrettable, and that's putting it very mildly." But Merkel, whose country hosts this year's international climate summit, said it was now time to look ahead.


Trump withdraws from climate pact, world leaders push back

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump's supporters on Friday cast his decision to abandon the world's climate change pact as a "refreshing" stance for the U.S. that would save jobs, unburden industry and save money. International leaders and scientists pushed back, pointing to jobs that could be created in green technology and the edge China could be given as a result. China has overtaken the U.S. in transitioning to renewable energy, generating a fifth of its electricity from renewable sources. The U.S. only sources about 13 percent of its electricity from renewables. In television interviews the morning after Trump's announcement, Vice President Mike Pence and Kellyanne Conway, a top White House aide, defended Trump's decision as a reassertion of America's sovereignty.