HOW big is the opposition to Trump’s policy?
Nearly 3/4 of Americans, rising number of states and cities to honor Paris pact
NEW YORK—
State governors, city mayors and powerful companies united Friday in defiance of President Donald Trump’s pledge to take the United States out of the Paris climate accord, pledging to meet greenhouse gas emission targets regardless.
A majority of Americans in every state, or 69 percent of US voters, believe the United States should participate in the agreement, according to a recent opinion poll carried out by Yale University’s program on climate change communication.
At least two Republican governors announced Friday they were partnering with Democratic-run states to combat climate change after Trump’s announcement sparked swift condemnation from academics, industry leaders and environmental experts.
US billionaire, philanthropist and UN envoy for climate change Michael Bloomberg pledged $15 million to support the agreement’s coordinating agency if necessary—the sum it stands to lose should the United States refuse to pay its share.
Without Trump
“Americans will honor and fulfill the Paris agreement by leading from the bottom up,” he said, flying to the French capital to meet President Emmanuel Macron in an expression of solidarity.
“Mayors, governors and business leaders from both political parties are signing onto a statement of support that we will submit to the UN—and to- gether, we will reach the emission reduction goals the US made in Paris in 2015,” said Bloomberg.
The United States—the world’s second largest greenhouse gas emitter after China—pledged in the Paris climate deal to reduce emissions that contribute to global warming by 26 percent in a 20-year period by 2025.
The New York Times said that Bloomberg’s unnamed group so far includes 30 mayors, three governors, more than 80 university presidents and more than 100 businesses.
150 mayors
The Democratic-led states of California, New York and Washington announced separately that they were forming a United States Climate Alliance committed to the Paris accord.
Charlie Baker and Phil Scott, the Republican governors of Massachusetts and Vermont, announced that their liberal northeastern states were joining the alliance and com- mitted to the goals of the Paris agreement, as did their Democratic counterparts in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
At least 150 mayors, who said they represent 47 million Americans, have also committed to uphold the accord, intensify efforts to meet climate goals and increase investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Several major US corporations, captains of industry and business groups urged Trump to honor the endangered agreement, with big oil firms Exxon Mobil and Chevron among them.
Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York City, said he wanted to “surpass” his commitment to reduce emissions by 80 percent by 2050.
Robert Orr, one of the architects of the Paris accord, said the United States had already been on track to achieve about half its Paris reductions commitment.
“The president may have unwittingly added dynamism to the same actors that have always been the ones that are delivering the reductions to actually do more on their own,” he said.
The governor of Hawaii had also pledged to continue concrete steps to implement the Paris accord while governors of Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon and Virginia committed to clean air and clean energy.
The earliest possible date for America’s official withdrawal from the Paris agreement is Nov. 4, 2020—the day after the next US presidential election—although Trump’s current term in office is not due to end until Jan. 20, 2021.