so, how do we even try to understand what trump is saying about the paris agreement?

he seems to be of the opinion that the regulations are going to hurt business, which is probably sort of true. but, he wants to specifically argue that it's going to make the country less competitive.

what this clearly implies is that he sees pulling out of the agreement as an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage over the rest of the world. while all of the other dumb countries are trying to reduce emissions, america will eliminate regulations, thereby bringing back the jobs.

of course, that won't work, anyway.

but, this is equivalent to assigning america as the world's pollution dump. what he's saying is he wants to import the world's pollution, by bringing back the dirtiest production, and not putting any restrictions on it.

and, he thinks he's outsmarting the rest of the world by doing it.

so, when he's talking about making a better deal, what that means is creating a new agreement that allows america to be more competitive by giving polluters more space to pollute.

this whole thing about needing to work together to reduce emissions just isn't a part of the calculus. he's solely concerned with trying to find ways to trick other countries into taking on a greater burden, and ways for american companies to pollute more. so, he's at least in favour of emissions targets in other countries - because that will make america more attractive for polluters.

that donald. he's smart, all right.

what can the rest of the world do but start to consider real sanctions against this government? this is beyond absurd. if trump's only concern is making america more attractive to polluters, the rest of the world has to boycott those polluters.

there's not another choice.