The mayor’s of Tampa and St. Petersburg suport the Paris Climate Accord
Last week when President Donald Trump decided to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord his now famous line was “I am the president of Pittsburgh, not Paris.” He was doing what he does best and that was appealing to his base but there are plenty of mayors and other elected officials who disagree with the idea of dropping out of the climate deal.
Locally the there are two big city mayors who now stand firmly against the White House on the issue of the Paris Climate Accord. Tampa and St. Petersburg are governed by two mayors who are in the Paris Climate Accord camp.
Mayor Bob Buckhorn of Tamp and his across the bay counterpart St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman on Friday joined the Mayors National Climate Action Agenda’s effort to “adopt, honor and uphold the commitments to the goals enshrined in the Paris Agreement.”
Talking to the media and the Tampa Bay Times over the weekend the St. Petersburg mayor explained why he was standing with Paris.
“As mayors we lead by example, and I think it sends a message to our community but also to the administration in Washington that those of us who are nearest to the people believe this is the right position for our country to take,” Kriseman said. “And we plan on doing what we can to initiate the policies that match the accord. Certainly we’d like to see our federal government doing the same.”
Since President Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement twelve states and Puerto Rico have formed the U.S. Climate Alliance. They have all committing to uphold the Paris Accord. Leaders of 211 cities have declared themselves “Climate Mayors” and promised to work toward the Paris targets.
The Paris Climate Accord is non-binding and each country pledges to set their own goals to reduce carbon emissions and combat effects of climate change, more than 180 mayors across the country pledged to honor the Paris Climate Accord. Besides the mayors, more than 1,200 business leaders, governors and college presidents have signaled their personal commitment to the goal of reducing emissions.
Now it should be noted that many mayors, governors and corporate executives side with the White House on this issue. The facts are that more people see climate change as a real issue worthy of strong consideration.
For those who want to read the document and to see exactly what it says here it is. Just click here