LA Defiant As Trump Pulls Out Of Paris Accord

LOS ANGELES, CA — President Donald Trump withdrew from the historic Paris Climate Accord Thursday, and Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti and California Gov. Jerry Brown wasted no time in mitigating the consequences, with both vowing to stand by the accord.

Even as Trump announced his decision, former President Barrack Obama issued a statement calling on cities and states to take on the fight against climate change in the “absence of American leadership.” The nation’s most populous state and world’s sixth-largest economy has considerable clout in resisting the president on this issue. And the stakes are too high to simply accept inaction on global warming, said Garcetti.

“Climate change is a fact of life that people in Los Angeles and cities around the world live with every day. It is a grave threat to our health, our environment, and our economy — and it is not debatable or negotiable,” said Garcetti. “This is an urgent challenge, and it’s much bigger than one person. With the President pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, L.A. will lead by committing to the goals of the accord — and will work closely with cities across America and the world to do the same.”

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Brown was scathing in his critique of Trump.

"Donald Trump has absolutely chosen the wrong course," the governor said. "He's wrong on the facts. America's economy is boosted by following the Paris Agreement. He's wrong on the science. Totally wrong. California will resist this misguided and insane course of action. Trump is AWOL but California is on the field, ready for battle."

Brown announced the creation of a U.S. Climate Alliance comprised of states committed to upholding the agreement. He said California, New York and Washington are the initial members, with those states representing more than one-fifth of U.S. Gross Domestic Product.

The president announced his decision in a Rose Garden address Thursday, celebrating it as a campaign promise kept.

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"One by one we are keeping the promises I made to the people during our campaign," Trump said. "The Paris Climate Accord is simply the latest example of Washington entering into an agreement that disadvantages the U.S."

He called the agreement both "non-binding" and "draconian." He blasted the deal for not doing enough to restrain emissions in China and India and because he believes it will hurt economic growth in the United States going forward. Nevertheless, he said he cares deeply about the environment and that the U.S. will be "the cleanest" country going forward, with the cleanest air and the cleanest water.

"I cannot in good conscience support a deal that punishes the United States," he said. "I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris."

But the president doesn’t have the support of Pittsburgh’s mayor nor the mayors of dozens of American cities, said Garcetti, who co-founded the Mayors National Climate Action Agenda (“Climate Mayors”).

The coalition of 61 mayors issued a statement Thursday, noting, “The President’s denial of global warming is getting a cold reception from America’s cities. As 61 Mayors representing 36 million Americans, we will adopt, honor, and uphold the commitments to the goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement. We will intensify efforts to meet each of our cities’ current climate goals, push for new action to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius target, and work together to create the 21st century clean energy economy.

“We will continue to lead. We are increasing investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency. We will buy and create more demand for electric cars and trucks. We will increase our efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, create a clean energy economy, and stand for environmental justice. And if the President wants to break the promises made to our allies enshrined in the historic Paris Agreement, we’ll build and strengthen relationships around the world to protect the planet from devastating climate risks.”

The Paris Agreement was signed by 195 countries in 2015 and set a goal of curbing greenhouse gas emissions, along with keeping a global rise in temperature this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. It also calls for an effort to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Under the agreement, every country submitted a plan to lower greenhouse emissions and agreed to meet regularly and share progress. The agreement is nonbinding and countries are allowed to adjust their plans depending on their domestic situation, with peer pressure from other countries being the primary motivating factor.

Former President Barack Obama promised to cut greenhouse gasses 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025 and commit $3 billion in aid to poorer countries.

By withdrawing, the United States joins Syria and Nicaragua as the only countries not to participate in the agreement, although it takes four full years to officially withdraw and a new president could reverse the decision before then.

City News Service contributed to this report, photo via Pixabay