Shortly after the U.S. announced its withdrawal from the Paris accord, a global pact to combat climate change, French President Emmanuel Macron assumed the mantle of environmental crusader with a pointed rebuke of the Trump administration: "Make our planet great again," he declared just hours later.
Now, more than a year later, Macron's environment minister has delivered his own stinging rebuke — only this time, it's Macron who came in for the condemnation. Nicolas Hulot stunned the hosts of his live radio interview Tuesday by declaring his resignation in protest of the French president's environmental policy.
"I do not want to lie to myself anymore," Hulot said on France Inter. "I don't want to give the illusion that my presence in government means we're answering these issues properly — and so I have decided to leave the government."
The move deals a stunning blow to Macron's government, which already has been buffeted by bad polling numbers and scandal in recent months — and which was unaware of the popular minister's decision until he said it live on air. In fact, according to Hulot, not even his wife knew about it beforehand.
