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French Astronaut Throws Shade at Trump Over Withdrawal from Climate Deal

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French astronaut Thomas Pesquet posted this image on Twitter Tuesday (June 6), writing. "I took the #ParisAgreement to the ISS: from space, climate change is very real. Some could probably use the view #MakeOurPlanetGreatAgain," he tweeted.
French astronaut Thomas Pesquet posted this image on Twitter Tuesday (June 6), writing. "I took the #ParisAgreement to the ISS: from space, climate change is very real. Some could probably use the view #MakeOurPlanetGreatAgain," he tweeted. (Image credit: NASA/ESA/Thomas Pesquet Twitter)

Opposition to President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate pact has reached new heights.

French astronaut Thomas Pesquet registered his objection today (June 6), throwing some shade via Twitter at Trump and the president's "Make America Great Again" tagline. Pesquet just returned to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday (June 2).

"I took the #ParisAgreement to the ISS: from space, climate change is very real. Some could probably use the view #MakeOurPlanetGreatAgain," Pesquet tweeted. His post included a photo of the astronaut's copy of the climate deal floating in front of a window offering a view of Earth against the blackness of space.

The Paris Agreement involves nearly 200 countries and took years to negotiate. The accord is an attempt to mitigate the worst effects of climate change; it aims to keep average global temperatures this century from rising more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial levels. 

President Trump announced last week that he intends to pull the United States out of the accord, claiming that the Paris Agreement "disadvantages the United States to the exclusive benefit of other countries." The only United Nations member states that did not sign on to the accord are Syria and Nicaragua.

The move prompted criticism from a number of high-profile people and organizations, including SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk. Musk said that he will now resign from the three White House advisory councils on which he had been serving.

"Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world," Musk tweeted on June 1.

Pesquet arrived at the ISS in November 2016 and stayed on orbit for 196 days as a crewmember for the station's Expedition 50 and Expedition 51. Pesquet's 6.5-month mission was the French astronaut's first spaceflight.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.

Mike Wall
Mike Wall
Space.com Senior Writer
Michael was a science writer for the Idaho National Laboratory and has been an intern at Wired.com, The Salinas Californian newspaper, and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. He has also worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz.