Late-night hosts on climate deal: 'Even Israel and Palestine are on the same side'

Extract from The Guardian

Comics, including Trevor Noah and Jimmy Kimmel, addressed president Trump’s announcement that the US would withdraw from the Paris agreement

Late-night hosts on Trump’s climate decision: ‘Even North Korea agreed to this’

Jake Nevins

Saturday 3 June 2017 01.29 AEST Last modified on Saturday 3 June 2017 03.23 AEST

Late-night hosts discussed Donald Trump’s controversial decision Thursday to withdraw the US from the Paris climate accord, an agreement signed in April 2016 between 195 countries to address the issue of global climate change.

On The Daily Show, Trevor Noah began the segment discussing Mr Met, the mascot for the New York Mets who was caught on camera giving the middle finger to fans. “Let’s move on, from one white mascot flipping off a few fans to another who’s flipping off the entire world,” Noah said.
“It’s official, people. Donald Trump has pulled the United States out of the biggest climate agreement the world has ever seen. And can I just say, telling nature to go fuck itself while standing in a garden is a pretty ghastly move. The only way that could’ve been more messed up is if he did it with a polar bear standing in the background, although I’m sure Eric would’ve shown up and shot the polar bear.”

Noah joked about the resounding global consensus around the accords. “What makes it worse is that every country in the world agreed to this. Even countries you wouldn’t expect. Russia agreed to this. North Korea agreed to this. Even Israel and Palestine are on the same side when it comes to global climate change.”

Trump, who made the announcement in the White House rose garden alongside his chief advisers, said in his speech that he was elected “to represent the people of Pittsburgh, not Paris”.
“And every day, the citizens of Paris are like: thank fuck for that,” Noah quipped. “But I do get what Trump was trying to say. In his mind, this decision basically fulfilled his promise to bring back old-school industrial jobs, like cement and steel and coal. Here’s the thing: we all want people to have jobs, but the numbers have shown that green energy is where the work is going to be. There are certain things that you can’t bring back. It may have been big back in the day but it’s not going to work now. It’s like Baywatch: you can’t save it.”
Jimmy Kimmel also delivered a monologue about Trump’s decision, calling attention to a tweet the president sent Wednesday night promoting the eventual announcement.

“President Trump rang in the first of June with a major announcement, and let me tell you, no one likes to announce an announcement more than Donald Trump,” he said. “It made sense that he did it from the rose garden while we still have roses and gardens. But the message he did deliver today was one of hope – as in, I hope this terrible prank America decided to play on itself is over too.”
Kimmel, like Noah, pointed out that the Paris agreement was supported not just by American allies including Canada, Germany, France and others, but big businesses as well. “It isn’t just environmentalists who want us to remain a part of the Paris accords,” he explained. “ExxonMobil lobbied for us to stay in it. Shell wanted us in it. Walmart supported it. Because apparently these big companies ran the numbers, and it turns out if climate change destroys human life on earth, it could be bad for business.
“I guess it’s not a surprise that he pulled out,” Kimmel said. “The president has been very big on pulling out ever since he had Donald Jr.”