SINGAPORE — It is a fallacy for the Donald Trump administration to believe that exiting the Paris climate change pact would revive America’s coal industry, say experts interviewed by TODAY.

Mr Peter Kiernan, lead analyst for energy issues at the Economist Intelligence Unit, noted that since Mr Trump was inaugurated, there have been nearly a dozen announcements of coal plant retirements in the United States.

This is due to market factors that point to a declining role for coal in the power sector, he said. These market factors include competition from natural gas, cheaper renewables, and stagnating electricity consumption, he added.

“While a US abandonment of the Paris agreement will represent a symbolic setback to global cooperation to combat climate change, the clean-energy train has already left the station. The direction of travel may be slowed but is not going to be reversed,” said Mr Kiernan.

Ms Melissa Low, a research fellow at the Energy Studies Institute, added: “The clean-energy revolution is here to stay, and many renewable sources of energy have already reached grid parity.”

Under the Paris climate accord, almost 200 nations agreed in 2015 to voluntarily cut greenhouse gas emissions in a landmark agreement to fight climate change.

The pact became one of former US president Barack Obama’s signature achievements.

But Mr Trump campaigned on a promise to withdraw from the deal, saying it would mean stricter environmental policies that would hobble the economy and cost jobs.

He signed an executive order in March reversing limits on the use of coal.

“You’re going back to work,” he told a group of miners when he signed the order. “We will put our miners back to work. We’ve already eliminated a devastating anti-coal regulation.”

The Paris climate agreement has unexpectedly drawn support from major companies such as oil giants ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell as well as other corporate heavyweights including Walmart and Apple.

Assistant Professor Winston Chow, who is with the National University of Singapore’s geography department, said that, in fact, many of the US’ major coal companies are also in favour of the Paris agreement because they see hope in carbon capture and storage technology.

“The coal (producing) states are not going to get their jobs back even if Trump exits the Paris deal. The demand for coal is not dropping because of solar or nuclear energy. It is because of the cheaper natural gas that is a consequence of fracking (to release gas trapped in rock),” he said.

The American solar industry provides twice as many jobs as the coal industry, according to a Fortune magazine report.

Mr Bart van Ark, chief economist at business research group Conference Board, told The New York Times: “The potential number of jobs you can create in fossil fuels is limited, while the potential number of jobs in green technologies — in principle, the sky is the limit.” WITH AGENCIES