“The Paris Climate Agreement negotiated by President Obama, leading global climate scientists, and other responsible world leaders represents our best opportunity to arrest the devastating effects of global climate change,” U.S. Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia’s 8th District said Wednesday.

“The news that Donald Trump intends to pull out of the global accord stands in stark contrast to overwhelming public and scientific agreement on the causes and solutions to climate change. It will be a self-inflicted wound on our allies’ trust in American leadership. The Paris Agreement was a vision reflecting decisive action, hope, ingenuity, and the ideals with which we would define our country’s place in the world. Withdrawal from that agreement represents a triumph of ignorance, nativism, and political pandering, and the message it sends to other countries will be disastrous for the relationships which have built and sustained our prosperity.”