Tillerson – Face The Nation

Good morning and welcome to FACE THE NATION. I’m John Dickerson. We’ll get to the story that dominated news coverage most of last week that of the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. But there’s a lot of other news coming up this morning and so we’re going to begin by talking to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Mister Secretary, welcome. Let me start with the Paris climate Accord. The Wall Street Journal reported that the administration was looking for a way to stay in it, but in June President Trump said, it was time to exit. So what is the administration position?

REX TILLERSON (Secretary of State): Well, the position is being led and developed by Gary Cohn over at the National Economic Council. And I think, if you recall, the President also said, look, we are willing to work with partners in the Paris climate accord if we can construct a set of terms that we believe is fair and balanced for the American people and recognizes our economy– our economy, our economic interest relative to others, in particular, the second largest economy in the world, China. If you look at those targets and terms of the Paris climate accord, they were just really out of balance for the two largest economies. So I think the plan is for director Cohn to consider other ways in which we can work with partners in the Paris climate accord. We want to be productive, we want to be helpful. The U.S. has actually has a tremendous track record on reducing our own greenhouse gas emissions.

JOHN DICKERSON: So there’s a chance that– that if things get worked out both on the voluntary side from the U.S., voluntary restrictions for the U.S. that it could change, but then also with China– there’s a chance the U.S. could stay in the accord, is that right?

REX TILLERSON: I think under the right conditions, the President said he’s open to finding those conditions where we can remain engaged with others on what we all agree is still a challenging issue.

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