Trump advisers to meet Tuesday to discuss Paris climate agreement
WASHINGTON, April 17 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's top advisers will meet on Tuesday to discuss whether to recommend that he withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, a White House official said on Monday.
The accord, agreed upon by nearly 200 countries in Paris in 2015, would limit planetary warming in part by slashing carbon dioxide and other emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. As part of the deal, the United States committed to reducing its emissions by between 26 and 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025.
Trump in the past has voiced skepticism about the deal.
A White House official said Trump's aides will "discuss the options, with the goal of providing a recommendation to the president about the path forward."
The advisers expected to attend include Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Perry, a former Texas governor, at his confirmation hearings in January softened a previous position that the science behind climate change was "phony." Pruitt, a former Oklahoma lawmaker, has rejected the scientific consensus that carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming.
(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)