03 June, 2017
As of June 2, 83 American mayors, including those leading the U.S. six largest cities, have signed a declaration committing to "adopt, honor, and uphold Paris Climate Agreement goals".
The governors of three states, California, Washington and NY, on Thursday announced the creation of an alliance aimed at connecting states "committed to taking aggressive action on climate change".
IPCC spokesman Jonathan Lynn said the scientific body finds that limiting climate change would require substantial and sustained reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, which together with adaptation can limit climate change risks. That brought a rebuke from Bill Peduto, the mayor of Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania, who declared that Trump's decision did not represent his city and vowed that Pittsburgh would stick to Paris accord guidelines, regardless of the official United States government stance. "... The climate will continue to warm in any case". According to New Delhi-based think tank TERI director general Ajay Mathur, "The absence of USA leadership and financial support could delay actions to both reduce global emissions and to adapt to the adverse impacts of the climate change that has already occurred".
In California, legislators voted to get 100% of the state's energy needs from renewables by 2045.
Further, "India makes its participation [in the Paris climate treaty] contingent on receiving billions and billions and billions of dollars in foreign aid from developed countries", Trump continued. The Cambridge, Massaschusetts-based research university published a study in April 2016 titled "How much of a difference will the Paris Agreement make?" showing that if countries abided by their pledges in the deal, global warming would slow by between 0.6 degree and 1.1 degrees Celsius by 2100.
"The United States will cease all implementation of the non-binding Paris accord and the draconian financial and economic burdens the agreement imposes on our country", Trump said in a statement.
Hinging his decision on his election-winning "America First" politics, the President said the USA was being taken for a ride by all its partners, friends and foes.
"The world can not wait - and neither will we".
"Americans are not walking away from the Paris climate agreement".
However, Philadelphia remains the fourth-biggest coal-producing state in the US.
Power stations - some of them, that is.
"The outlook for USA energy production will be determined far more by market conditions, like the price of oil and gas, than by scrapping the Obama-era environmental regulations", Bordoff said.
Trump offered no details about how, or when, a formal withdrawal would happen. "And they won't be", Trump said.
World leaders in several European countries including France, Germany, and Italy say re-negotiating is not possible.
