French president pokes at Trump for leaving Paris accord

French President Emmanuel Macron took a jibe at President Donald Trump on Sunday for his decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron at the International Solar Alliance founding conference in New Delhi, India, Sunday, March 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Macron did not name Trump while speaking at the first meeting of the International Solar Alliance in New Delhi. But while hailing the "solar mamas," a group of women trained as solar engineers, he said the women had continued their mission to promote solar energy even after "some countries decided just to leave the floor and leave the Paris agreement."

Trump announced last June that the U.S. was withdrawing from the Paris accord, which aims to slow the rise in global temperature by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, poses with Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo for a photo at the International Solar Alliance founding conference in New Delhi, India, Sunday, March 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

At a separate weekend event in India, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also regretted Trump's decision.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, welcomes Chairman of the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the International Solar Alliance founding conference in New Delhi, India, Sunday, March 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

"It is shameful that the U.S. is the only country in the world that is not in the Paris Agreement," Clinton said Saturday in Mumbai, India's financial capital while speaking at a conference organized by the India Today media group.

Heads and ministers of dozens of countries participated in Sunday's solar meeting, co-hosted by India and France.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi waits to receive heads of states at the International Solar Alliance founding conference in New Delhi, India, Sunday, March 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

The International Solar Alliance is a treaty-based international body for the promotion of efficient exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. It was launched by India and France on the sidelines of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference.

"Today is a big change," Macron told the meeting. "Our solar mamas, who we just listened to, didn't wait for us. They started to act and to deliver concrete results. They didn't wait and they didn't stop because some countries decided just to leave the floor and leave the Paris agreement."

"Because they decided it was good for them, for their children, their grandchildren. They decided to act and keep acting, and that's why we are here, in order to act very concretely," Macron said.

India and France called for affordable solar technology and concessional finance for promoting solar energy.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, right, hugs French President Emmanuel Macron upon arrival for the International Solar Alliance founding conference in New Delhi, India, Sunday, March 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

The meeting was to discuss framing regulations and standards, credit mechanisms, crowdfunding and sharing of technological breakthroughs to promote solar energy in 121 countries associated with the Alliance. The member countries are fully or partially between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a unified effort for promoting solar energy and said the Alliance would help to achieve greater global energy security.

"Promoting its development and use can bring prosperity for all and can help reduce the carbon footprint on Earth," Modi told the conference. "If we want the welfare of planet Earth and of the whole humanity, I am confident that we can come out of our personal confines and like a family, bring unity in our aims and efforts (to promote solar energy)."

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Biden administration is preparing to announce plans for a new five-year schedule to lease federal offshore tracts for wind energy production, with up to a dozen lease sales anticipated beginning this year and continuing through 2028.

The plan was to be announced Wednesday in New Orleans by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. Three of the anticipated sales would be for Gulf of Mexico tracts to be offered this year, in 2025 and in 2027. Central Atlantic area leases would be sold in 2024 and 2026.

Other anticipated sale areas include the Gulf of Maine (2024 and 2028); Oregon waters (2024); an area of the Atlantic known as New York Bight (2027); and California, Hawaii, and an as-yet unspecified U.S. territory (2028).

The sales will be coordinated by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

"As we look toward the future, this new leasing schedule will support the types of renewable energy projects needed to lower consumer costs, combat climate change, create jobs to support families, and ensure economic opportunities are accessible to all communities,” Haaland said in a news release ahead of remarks to a conference in New Orleans.

FILE - Turbines operate at the Block Island Wind Farm, Dec. 7, 2023, off the coast of Block Island, R.I. The Biden administration is preparing to announce plans for a new five-year schedule to lease federal offshore tracts for wind energy production, with up to a dozen lease sales anticipated beginning this year and continuing through 2028. The plan was to be announced Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in New Orleans by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File)