Texas oil and gas experts say if President Donald Trump pulls out of the Paris Climate Agreement, it will have little to no effect on either the industry or the state's environment.
"We have been reducing our emissions significantly long before President Obama signed on to the Paris Accord, mainly because we are substituting natural gas for coal," Bud Weinstein, Associate Director of SMU's Maguire Energy Institute, tells Newsradio 1200 WOAI.
The U.S. and nearly every nation on earth signed on to the accord in 2015. There are no hard and fast requirements. It's merely a handshake agreement to reduce carbon output "as soon as possible" and to do their best to keep global warming "well below 2-degree Celsius" of pre-industrial levels.
President Trump has long been skeptical of human's role in climate change. On the campaign trail, he promised to pull out of the Paris Accord if elected. But dating back to 2012, he opposed efforts to curb global warming.
"The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive," he tweeted back in 2012.The accord is seen by its backers as a way to fight back against human's effects on global warming.
Todd Staples, who heads the Texas Oil and Gas Association, says the industry is protecting and improving our environment.
"Carbon emissions in the United States are near 20-year lows because of clean burning natural gas. The EPA’s data shows that methane emissions from natural gas systems decreased by more than 16% over the past 25 years - while production skyrocketed. The industry brings innovation and dedication to the job every day to secure our economy, our environment and our future.”