Reuters
Green lights are projected onto the facade of the Hotel de Ville in Paris, France, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his decision that the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement at a news conference June 1, 2017.
In President Trump's speech on June 1 announcing that the US will pull out of the Paris Agreement on climate change, he said, "I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris."But now, the mayors of the two cities say they are working together to form "their own climate deal" and are "more united than ever."
In a joint "New York Times" op-ed on June 7, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wrote that they plan to adhere to the Paris Agreement.
"Though separated by an ocean and a language, we share a desire to do what is best for our citizens and our planet. That means putting aside parochial politics and embracing the global challenge of fighting climate change. In doing so, we can create a cleaner, healthier, more prosperous world for Parisians, Pittsburghers and everyone else on the planet," they wrote.
Peduto said he was joining a coalition that intends to uphold the Paris Agreement called Mayors for 100% Clean Energy. The coalition, an initiative of the Sierra Club's Ready for 100 campaign, represents an increasing number of US mayors who have endorsed community-wide goals of switching completely to clean energy.
Thirty cities, three states, more than 80 university presidents, and more than 100 companies recently launched another group with similar goals. Organized by Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire philanthropist and former New York City mayor, that coalition expects to submit to the UN a plan to uphold the greenhouse-gas limits set in the Paris Agreement, according to The New York Times. Meanwhile, the United States Climate Alliance, made up of 11 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, DC, has also vowed to abide by the Paris accord.
On June 1, Peduto responded to Trump's Rose Garden speech on Twitter: "As the Mayor of Pittsburgh, I can assure you that we will follow the guidelines of the Paris Agreement for our people, our economy & future." A day later, he announced that Pittsburgh aims to transition completely to renewable-energy sources, like wind and solar, by 2035.