After Paris Pullout, Climate Change Policy Moves to the States

For Vicki Arroyo, the decision by the Trump administration to pull out of the Paris climate change agreement was a huge development – a step, she said in a recent op-ed, that signaled the U.S. is “ceding global leadership.”

“The U.S. is joining Nicaragua (which felt the agreement did not go far enough) and Syria (in the midst of a devastating civil war) as the only nations without a seat at the Paris table,” she wrote.

But even though the U.S. pulling away from that table, Arroyo said that doesn’t mean the battle in the U.S. on climate change is over. In fact, it’s very much alive in statehouses and city halls around the country.

In a video discussion with the National Press Foundation, Arroyo laid out the ramifications of the Paris pullout and detailed what is happening on the state and local level.

Arroyo is executive director of the Georgetown Climate Center, which does analysis on climate change and serves as a clearinghouse of information on it.

For reporters working the issue, the center offers a range of information:

__Political news, such as a compilation of comments by governors who came out against the Paris decision.

__State-by-state climate and energy profiles, which indicate each state’s sources of power (coal, wind, solar, etc.) and details changes over time.

__State and local adaption plans, which show what local officials are doing to change their energy usage and to prepare for rising sea levels. The adaption page includes a tracking section that details all the adaption goals a state has and how many of those have been met.

__The Adaptation Clearinghouse, which has reports, analyses, state documents and other information on strategies being employed around the country. It’s searchable by keyword, or viewable by state.

 

This program is funded by the Walton Family Foundation. NPF is solely responsible for the content.

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