With the United States' ill-considered withdrawal from the accord, dropping that number to 195, it falls on the country's cities and states to carry forward the ideals of slowing climate change and curbing carbon-based pollution. Watch video
The Paris Agreement on climate change may not be perfect, but the union of 196 nations represents a solid framework for addressing the ravages greenhouse gas emissions are inflicting on Planet Earth.
With the United States' ill-considered withdrawal from the accord, dropping that number to 195, it falls on the country's cities and states to carry forward the ideals of slowing climate change and curbing carbon-based pollution.
And fittingly, that's what's happening.
Mayors around the country are signing on to a letter, posted on the blogging site Medium, vowing to "adopt honor and uphold the commitments to the goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement."
Close to a dozen city leaders from New Jersey, including Eric E. Jackson of Trenton, Ras Baraka of Newark and Liz Lempert of Princeton, have joined a network of 257 U.S. mayors representing more than 59 million Americans living in 34 states, both red and blue.
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In a bold, no-nonsense statement, the ad hoc group known as Climate Mayors (more formally, the Mayor's National Climate Action Agenda) pledged to increase investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency, as well as to buy and create demand for electric cars and trucks.
If the president wants to break promises made to our allies, the mayors vowed, "we'll build and strengthen relationships around the world to protect the planet from devastating climate risks."
Meanwhile, California, New York and Washington State have created an alliance to shore up existing climate programs, promote the exchange of information and launch new programs to rein in the emission of greenhouse gases across all sectors of the economy.
There's no way lame-duck Gov. Chris Christie will rush to add his name to the list. But two Democratic state senators, Bob Smith of Middlesex and Somerset, and Linda Greenstein of Mercer and Middlesex, are working to craft legislation that, if passed, will pave the way for the Garden State to join its counterparts on both coasts in signing on to the effort.
"We want to send a message that New Jersey will not allow failed leadership to stop us from acting responsibly, and we want to be positioned for the change of administrations," said Smith, chair of the Senate's Environment and Energy Committee.
Although a Reuters/Ipsos poll released this week found that many Americans placed the economy or security at the top of their priorities, some 68 percent of those polled said they want the United States to lead global efforts to slow climate change.
And a whopping 72 percent agreed that "given the amount of greenhouse gases that it produces, the United States should take aggressive action to slow global warming."
With the moral vacuum in the White House, it's heartening that mayors, state legislators and governors are stepping up to accept the responsibilities of environmental stewardship.
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