Liberal cities are begging conservative states for money. Brilliant. Via the AP:
Just minutes after President Donald Trump announced his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris pact to fight climate change, mayors began announcing their plans to stay committed to it.
“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,” Mayor Bill Peduto tweeted May 1 as Trump concluded his announcement. Six days later, more than 280 mayors, from Sunnyvale, California, to Hoboken, New Jersey, had made the same pledge.
Despite Trump’s decision to withdraw, U.S. cities could achieve about 36 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions reductions required to meet America’s share of the goal international leaders set in Paris two years ago, according to research from the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a nonprofit network of major cities around the world.
But many cities may be hamstrung by Republican governors and state legislatures that are less supportive of policies that would reduce fossil fuel emissions.
If the dozen major U.S. cities affiliated with C40 were to implement the emissions-reduction projects they have total control over, they would only reach 8 percent of their portion of the reductions the U.S. committed to in Paris, C40 said.
Moreover, there are some ambitious ideas, such as charging road users higher fees during rush hour, that cities can’t act on without cooperation from state and regional policymakers. State lawmakers can approve or kill an idea through legislation. They also craft much of the larger policy environment, from rules utility providers must follow to decisions about whether electric vehicle owners get a tax break.
The fact that most big cities are controlled by Democrats, while most states are controlled by Republicans, increases the odds of political conflict. Lawmakers’ disagreements about the scope of the problem, and how to use policy to address it, often fall along partisan lines.