Trump announces his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.
Joshua Roberts / Reuters
Within minutes of President Trump announcing Thursday that the US would leave the Paris Accord, a coalition of states and nearly 70 mayors across the nation vowed to fight the White House and assume global leadership roles in the fight against climate change.
Some of the most vocal opposition to Trump came from California, where Gov. Jerry Brown called Trump's withdrawal a "misguided and insane course of action." He added that his state was "ready for battle."
The battlefield began taking shape just movements later, when Brown, along with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, announced the formation of the United States Climate Alliance. The governors billed the organization as "a coalition that will convene US states committed to upholding the Paris Climate Agreement and taking aggressive action on climate change."
Around the same time the governors were announcing their coalition, a group of California lawmakers, led by State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, also took climate matters into their own hands, calling on Brown to convene a climate summit.
Cities also got in on the action. Shortly after Trump's announcement, scores of mayors from cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, New York City, and Salt Lake City, released a statement promising to "adopt, honor, and uphold the commitments to the goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement."
Brown speaks at the Paris climate talks in December 2015.
Michel Euler / AP
The commitment to fighting climate change on state and local levels is not new. Brown, for one, has long been a globe-trotting climate warrior, and over the years his state of California has rolled out a series of climate-focused policies, including a high-profile cap and trade program for carbon emissions.
Other states all over the US — including Hawaii, Minnesota, Alaska, Connecticut — have either passed climate laws, created climate commissions, or are investing in studying the problem.
Case in point: just one day before Trump's announcement, lawmakers in California — which may also be headed for a showdown with Trump's Environmental Protection Agency over emission standards — advanced a bill that would require California to use 100% renewable energy by 2045. Cities have previously tackled climate change as well.
But Thursday's quick responses to Trump's Paris withdrawal decision shows that regional leaders aren't just chasing policy solutions, they're increasingly stepping out onto the world stage.
In announcing a climate coalition, for example, Inslee in Washington state said Trump had left "the full responsibility of climate action on states and cities throughout our nation."
Brown was even more pointed.
"If the president is going to be AWOL in this profoundly important human endeavor, then California and other states will step up," he said in a statement.
The governors also noted that, together, their states represent more than one-fifth of the total US gross domestic product, and are home to nearly 1 in 5 Americans — suggesting their coalition may be powerful enough to force the issue and ensure the US has at least a de facto, if not official, commitment to climate change action.
Kevin de Leon in Sacramento in April.
Rich Pedroncelli / AP
The California lawmakers calling for a climate summit similarly framed their proposal as global, rather than regional. They suggested the meeting should include Mexico, Canada, and "like-minded states and subnationals from around the world."
The lawmakers went on to refer to California as a "nation-state" that must "forge ahead."
Even the 68 mayors who promised to honor the Paris agreement framed their climate efforts in terms of global leadership. Their statement mentions a series of specific goals — more electric vehicles, cutting emissions, investments in renewable energy — before promising to take on an international role normally reserved for the president.
"If the president wants to break the promises made to our allies enshrined in the historic Paris Agreement," the mayors wrote, "we’ll build and strengthen relationships around the world to protect the planet from devastating climate risks."
LINK: Trump Announced That The US Is Pulling Out Of The Paris Climate Deal
LINK: This Is How European Governments Reacted To Trump's Decision To Pull Out Of The Paris Climate Accord
LINK: California Was Basically Treated Like Its Own Country At The Big Climate Talks In Paris
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/2sjWCTQ
No comments:
Post a Comment