Today to deliver a brief statement on the president s announcement yesterday and answer any questions you have regarding the tran 828. As always, i ask that you keep your questions for administer pruitt on topic. Once hes finished ill be back to answer questions of the day. I would note that he has a flight to had to so will keep this relatively short on his end. Its good to be with you this afternoon. I want the first began by saying that the president made a very courageous decision yesterday in the on behalf of america and he put americas interest first with respect to environmental agreements and international discussions. I really appreciate his fortitude and i appreciate his leadership in this matter, the discussion of the last several weeks has been one of a thoughtful deliberation. He heard many voices, voices across the wide spectrum of advantage points and the president made a very informed, i think, important decision for the countries benefit. What we have to remember when it comes to environmental agreement and International Agreements with respect to things like the Paris Agreement we have nothing to be apologetic about as a country. We have reduced our co2 footprint to levels of an early 1990s and, in fact, from 2,002,014 we reduce our Carbon Footprint by up over 18 . Thats been largely accomplished through innovation, and technology. Not government mandates. When we look at issues like this we are leading with action and not words. I also want to say that the exiting paris does not mean disengagement. In fact, the president said yesterday that paris represents a bad deal for this country, it doesnt mean that we wont continue the discussion. Export our innovation, export our technology to the rest of the world to demonstrate how we get better here is a very Important Message them. He indicated that he will reenter paris or engage in a discussion around a new deal. A commitment to putting america first. The president said routinely that he will put the interest of american citizens at the head of this administration. Trade policy, national security, that border security, rightsizing washington dc and he did that with respect to a decision yesterday on paris. So, with that, answer any questions you may have. I dont know your names so you have to give me that. Ill point you and well go from there. Hoping you can clear this up once for all, yes or no, does the president believe that Climate Change is real and a threat to the United States . Whats interesting about the discussions we had over the last several weeks have been focused on one singular issue is paris good or not for the country. Thats a discussion of how the present. Thats been my focus. The focus remained on whether paris but at a disadvantage and, in fact, it did. Put it at an economic disadvantage. You may not notice but parent set its target at 28 with the entire agenda of the previous demonstration we still sell 40 short of those targets. It was a failed deal to begin with and even if all of the targets were met by all of the nations across the globe it only reduced the temperature by less than two tenths of 1 degree. That is something that the president focused upon with respect to how it impacted us economically and whether they were Good Environmental objectives that were achieved as a result of paris. His decision was no and that was the extent of our discussion. Yes maam. [inaudible] there were other studies published at the time, the mit study was something that as you indicated, so to ten to 1 degree and they didnt have a point on the market as far as a study at the time but there are many at this point that we can provide to you but was clear about paris, was clear, is if you go back and look at the criticism that was being levied against the Paris Agreement, it wasnt just folks in this country who wanted to be ratified or critical to processes, the environmental last was very critical of paris. In fact, james hansen is an individual who said at the time it was a fake and fraud and the general counsel said the same thing. If you go back and read the media counts there is much criticism, largely because it did not hold nations like china and india accountable. As you know, china did not have to take any steps until 2030, india had no obligation until two and half trillion dollars of aid were provided and russia, when they set their targets, had 1990 as a baseline which allow them to continue more co2. In this country, we had 22628 Greenhouse Gases reduction which represented the power plant and the Climate Action agenda of the previous administration. Yes, sir. I like to go back to the first question that you didnt answer but does the president believe today that Climate Change is a hoax . He said in the campaign and use that in the. [inaudible] and what if you can speak for him. I did answer the question because i said the discussion the present and i had over the last several weeks has been focused on more key issues. Is paris good or bad for the Country Christmas present and i focus our attention there and he determined that it was bad for this country. It hurt us economically. It didnt achieve good and im top of that he made the decision to reject the paris deal. Yes, right there. Given the fact that you and other administrative officials havent been able to outline the president s view of Climate Change, why should other countries believe that the president wants to negotiate any deal . As i indicated in my comments yesterday, the president emphasized in his speech, this administration and the country as a whole we have taken significant steps to reduce our co2 footprint. To levels of the pre 1990s. What you wont hear, how do we achieve that contract largely because of technology, bracketing and horizontal drilling that allows a conversion to natural gas in the generation of electricity. You wont hear that from the environmental left. We need to export clean coal technology. We need to export the technology and natural gas to those around the globe india, china, help them learn from us on how what weve done to achieve good outcomes. We lead with action, not words. Paris, truly, paris is a bunch of words committed to very, very environmental bit and cost substantially amount of money but as an economic disadvantage. Yes, sir. Does the president believe or the omission to believe that any additional deal or target admissions, paris or any subsequent deal. I missed the first part of your questions back does the admission believe any deal whether. [inaudible] i think its clear in respect to the Paris Agreement that there are concerns by the administration, the president expressed this constitutionally it is become i have similar concerns that it should have been cemented to the us senate for ratification. It depends on the nature of the deal. What you actually negotiate. If you talk about export, innovation and technology to the rest of the globe i would say not. I would say thats not something that needs to be submitted to the u. S. Senate. I would say, however, if youre sitting targets, if youre setting emission targets, their enforceable domestically to regulation or statute then very much so the voice of american citizens across the country need to be heard in the ratification process. Yes, sir. Are busy, a lot of people from the white house are not willing to answer this question what does the admission efficiently. Lets talk about your personal views. In march you said theres tremendous disagreement about the degree of human impact and we were not agree that it permits to Global Warming. What human activity contributes at all to Global Warming. Im not sure if you got my confirmation process but its a very intensive process, by the way. That confirmation process i indicated that, in fact, Global Warming is occurring, that human activity contributes to it, in some manner. Measuring with precision, from my perspective, the degree of human touch vision is very challenging but it still begs the question what we do about it. Does oppose an existential threat . You know, people have called me a chronic skeptic or chronic denier. I dont know what it means to deny it chronically. I would say there a chronic exaggerators. Many of you, i dont know if you saw the article or not, the climate of complete certainty by bret stevens. It was in the new york times. He talked about and ill just read a quote because i think its an important quote from this article anyone whos read the 2014 reports of the ipc p knows that while the modest 0. 8f the earth has occurred since 1880. Much else that passes as except the fact is really a matter of probabilities. Thats especially true of this fixated models and simulations by which scientists attempt to appear into the chronic future. To say this is it to deny science is to deny on it fully. Look, what the American People deserve, what the American People deserve is a debate objective, transparent discussion about this issue. What paris represents, what paris represents is an International Agreement that put this country at a disadvantage with very little benefit environmentally across the glo globe. Tonight as a followup question . Why is the arctic shelf marked melting but require the Sea Levels Rising require the hottest temperatures in the last decade essentially the hottest temperature that we seen on record little odd when nassau says that the you are throwing out information that says maybe this is been exaggerated or supported talking about climate exaggerators it seems to a lot of people around the world that you and the president are denying the reality and the reality of the situation is that Climate Change is happening and it is a significant threat to the planet. Let me say this and i said in the confirmation process and i said yesterday. They are we have done it for minutes amount as a country to achieve productions in co2. We had done that to technology and innovation. Will continue to do that. We have continued to stay engaged. We are part, as you know, of the triple c and that process encourages voices by subnational groups and by countries across the globe and we are going to stay engaged and try to work through agreements and achieve outcomes that put americas interest first. This is not a message to anyone in the world that america is somewhat apologetic of the co2 position. We are actually making advances and we just not going to agree to framework and agreements that put us in an economic disadvantage and hurt citizens across the country. Yes, sir. Youre putting your hand and head in the sand. Theres no evidence of that. Your. [inaudible] he is very nervous about lowerlevel career Government Employees and the epa and state department actually executing what been done in the paris climate corporate as the admission or of epa, what you say to your own whats important to know that the president said unequivocally yesterday that the target set in paris, the 2628 are not enforceable and he will be complied with. The Green Climate where the United States committed 3 million for the initial funding is not going to continue. That is unequivocally and that will be immediate. There are discussions going on going with the Justice Department on the steps that will be taken to execute the withdrawal and exit and that something that will be happening over the next several weeks. As far as the targets are concerned, as far as the Green Climate fund, that is immediate and it is something that is clear. Your leaders made it very clear that the deal could be you renegotiated how does he renegotiate the deal and the other parties as indicated. Whether its part of the paris framework or a new deal. Its either approach. What if they dont sit down at the table coursework. Thats up to them. What the United States has exceeded the table, we are the United States. We are leading with respect to co2 reduction and we made tremendous progress, if nations around the globe want to see to learn from us on what were doing to reduce our co2 footprint, we will share that with them. Thats something that should occur. And will occur in the future. We will reach out and investigate with nations who seek to achieve that. Youre the epa and measure, should you be able to tell the American People whether or not the Climate Change is a hoax where you stand. As i indicated several times to the process theres enough to deal with the Paris Agreement in making an informed decision about this important issue. Thats refocus over last several weeks have been. Id answer the question a couple times. Yes, sir. This gentleman right here. Thank you. Isnt it a concern that the United States has broken a promise to a hundred 90 countries and the president did not address that particular point and a second, several times youve raised the lowering of co2 levels. Isnt a reason for lower co2 levels because of blocking the smokestack skus that are now not allowed the kind of regulation that the ministration is now opposing. As i understand it largely we have reduced our co2 footprint through innovation and technology, not the least of which is hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. The first part of your question. Is in it. We broke a promise to 190 countries and how does that help our credibility. If it was a promise that was enforceable and would obligate this country than it shouldve been ratified as a treaty, right respect the exposure here to us domestically was 2628 target that was part of an International Agreement and their provisions in the Clean Air Act that actually allow a lawsuit to be filed domestically to compel regulations to meet those kind of percentages. This was much about constitutional legal concern as anything else. The president dealt incisively with that. Again, the important thing here is to put us at a disadvantage for the world applauded when we join. Why christmas they applauded because they knew it but this country at an economic disadvantage and the reason you european leaders want us to stay in is because they know it will shackle our economy though we are leading the world in respect to our co2 reduction. I have to head to the airport. Thank you. Back to earlier this morning the madeup support was released showing that americans seeking jobs are having more success finding at any point in the last 16 years. Theres a lot of positive signs coming out of the job market, over 600,000 private sector jobs have been added since the president had office and the unappointed rate which gives a broader look at an apartment and under a permit for Percentage Points of the present office in january. Longterm unimportant is down by a 187,000 since present office and americas minors and the drillers are getting back to work. With that sector showing job growth for the seventh straight month. The president not going to stop until every american who wants to work can find meaningful employment. Thats why were working tirelessly on policies that will keep the economy growing with a tax plan that will lead more money in the pockets of hardworking americans and making it easier for businesses to thrive in Infrastructure Initiative that will bring 120 and put americans back to work and repealing outpacing obamacare with a system that encourages competition and drives prices down, and a systematic Regulatory Reform to reduce unnecessary burdens on manufacturing and other Key Industries aiming for the most farreaching rollbacks since the reagan years. You can expect the president to be focus even more on job this month and Holding Events in washington and outside pushing his progrowth, pro job agenda. Later this afternoon the president will be signing it to bills that were both passed with bipartisan support that help protect those who protect us. Our nations veterans and Public Safety officers. First, the Public Safety officers benefit improvement act of 2017 which with cosponsored by Senate JudiciaryChuck Grassley of iowa and senator legrand of new york it was universally passed by the senate last month. It will reduce the unacceptable backlog of families awaiting approval of survival benefits and Public Safety officers that was killed in the line of duty. The second is the american Law Enforcement heroes act which is cosponsored by senator john cornyn and senator amy corbett shark and universally passed in the senate and will add veterans to their forces by prioritizing the department of justice funding to Law Enforcement agencies that used to hire veterans. Its critical that we support our veterans and the loved ones of those who paid the ultimate price while protecting our communities. President is glad to be signing these important bills today and therell be a at the top of that shortly. Also in washington today education secretary betsy devos visited the Eagle Public Charter School this morning to show the ministration support of any Inclusive School environment and celebrate the launch of the department of educations new individual with disabilities act. At the state farm and secretary tillerson met this morning with foreign minister of br