WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump may be withdrawing the U.S. from the international Paris accord to fight global warming, but he's still sending a delegation to the world's largest climate change summit next month.
The U.S. will dispatch a team to the United Nations' annual climate change gathering in Madrid that will mirror the delegation at last year's summit, according to the State Department, signaling that the group will probably consist of career diplomats and lower-ranking officials. The delegation will engage in negotiations to protect U.S. interests and ensure a level playing field for U.S. businesses, the agency said.
Last year's U.S. representatives were led by Judith Garber, who was at the time a principal deputy assistant secretary in the State Department's Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. The U.S. has developed a reputation in recent years of offering the contrarian view at the climate summit. In 2017, it promoted a controversial discussion on "clean coal" as others were focused on putting an end to the use of the fossil fuel.
