Trump Did Not Expect Such Backlash for Exiting the Paris Deal

Trump’s decision ultimately galvanized the governments of the world and the people into fighting climate change.

Trump may have thought he was delivering something to his base when he made the ‘historic mistake’ of withdrawing from the Paris agreement on climate.

But the headlines show a different story: by threatening the health and safety of the entire world, he ultimately galvanized the governments of the world and the people of America to double down on climate action.

Oh, and let’s not even mention the fact that the ostensibly ‘clever’ line, “Pittsburgh, not Paris,” which somebody wrote for Trump backfired in truly spectacular fashion.

VP Pence has moved on to "Des Moines not Denmark" – apparently completely ignorant of the fact that Iowa is America's wind energy leader.

Everyone But Donald Trump Is Standing By the Paris Climate Agreement

Global leaders vowed to press ahead with the Paris climate accord after Donald Trump pulled the world’s biggest economy out of the pact, and Europe’s heavy hitters rebuffed the American president’s suggestion that it could be renegotiated.

Bloomberg News

Health Experts Are Furious with Trump for Pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement

But the people who pay attention to public health want to remind you that a warmer planet will bring more air pollution, fuel the spread of infectious diseases and increase the incidence of certain cancers, among many other things. (For a full accounting of how climate change impacts human health, check out this report from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences or this assessment from the U.S. Global Change Research Program).

Los Angeles Times

World Leaders Condemn Trump's Decision to Quit Paris Climate Deal

President Donald Trump faced a chorus of global disapproval Friday in the wake of his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement on climate change, with allies and rivals uniting to accuse him of failing future generations.

CNN

Trump Sparked a CEO Revolt. Here's Why

So maybe the most amazing thing that occurred Thursday wasn’t that President Trump pulled out of the Paris climate deal. It was the response from the corner office: A string of CEOs loudly voiced strong opposition to his action. “It’s an absolutely bizarre and unprecedented moment in American history,” presidential historian Douglas Brinkely told CNNMoney...“Donald Trump is such a pariah figure that companies want zero association with his brand,” Brinkley said. “He’s championing dirty air and polluted water. He’s anti-science. Why would a Fortune 500 CEO want to be associated with that?

CNN Money

Bucking Trump, These Cities, States and Companies Commit to Paris Accord

“Representatives of American cities, states and companies are preparing to submit a plan to the United Nations pledging to meet the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions targets under the Paris climate accord, despite President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the agreement,” The New York Times wrote.

The unnamed group — which, so far, includes 30 mayors, three governors, more than 80 university presidents and more than 100 businesses — is negotiating with the United Nations to have its submission accepted alongside contributions to the Paris climate deal by other nations.“We’re going to do everything America would have done if it had stayed committed,” Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor who is coordinating the effort, said in an interview.

The New York Times

As Trump Touts Coal While Ditching the Paris Accord, Three More Coal-Fired Plants Shut

All three power plants, built in the 1960s, had been the targets of protests and lawsuits, with environmentalists charging they killed fish and spewed toxins from their looming smokestacks. But in the end, industry officials said they had to close because they were no longer economically viable.

Los Angeles Times

Buildings Worldwide Turn Green to Protest Trump's Paris Climate Decision

After President Donald Trump announced he was yanking the United States from the Paris Climate Accord, several American cities wasted no time declaring their intentions to stay green. Landmarks and skyscrapers lit up with green lights Thursday night as local leaders protested Trump’s earlier speech in which he announced his intentions to pull the U.S. from the climate agreement that previously contained all nations except Nicaragua and Syria – the former chose not to join because it felt the accord wasn’t strict enough, and the latter is in the middle of a civil war.

Weather.com

Pittsburgh Mayor Bucks Trump, Commits to 100 Percent Clean Energy

Now, the mayor of Pittsburgh, Bill Peduto, has clapped back and announced that his city, along with many other local state and city governments, is sticking to the terms of the Paris accord. … Peduto joins an ever growing list of mayors in the Sierra Club’s Ready for 100campaign, which encourages mayors to move their communities to 100 percent clean energy. Earlier this week, Columbus, South Carolina Mayor Steve Benjamin jumped on the Ready for 100 bandwagon too.

Vice

Pittsburghers Rally Downtown To Say Yes To Paris Agreement

When the march began, it spread over more than two city blocks. Marchers carried signs with slogans such as “Pittsburgh and Paris, one planet” and “Yes to Paris, No to Putin.” … “I’m here to send a message to Washington that climate change is a world problem,” said Scarpaci. “[Trump] has only a passing acquaintance with facts and truth and I don’t believe anything that comes out of his mouth.

NPR Pittsburgh

Sorry Trump, but We're Sticking with Paris, Activists Say

But activists immediately responded, outlining plans to resist Trump, and elected officials across the country said they would ignore the president’s pullout and abide by the terms of the Paris agreement. The Sierra Club is urging people to call the White House, and 350.org listed some of the wins that have already emerged from the accord, and immediately launched a petition.

The Guardian