Last week, President Trump announced that the United States was withdrawing from the Paris climate accord under which our country joined 194 other nations in pledging to meet greenhouse gas emission targets.
In withdrawing, the United States will be joining a very select group of countries who will not adhere to the 2015 accord — Syria and Nicaragua.
Syria did not sign because it is locked in civil war.
Nicaragua because it believes the world’s richest nations did not sacrifice enough.
Both are considered “rogue nations” by the United States.
Three other “rogue nations” — Iran, North Korea and Sudan — signed the accord.
We have much we could say about how the decision has grievously injured our country’s global leadership and opened the door for China to fill the void both diplomatically and in the clean-energy economy.
Coupled with our president’s refusal to affirm our commitment to defend fellow NATO countries, the United States’ undisputed claim to being leader of the free world over the past 70 years appears, at a minimum, seriously in question.
But we will focus on the problem the Paris climate accord is intended to address — global warning — and the response of New York officials past and present.
There the news is somewhat better.
First, the problem: climate change is real, it is caused to a large extent by human activities and it is a threat to the future of our country and the world.
That is the overwhelming consensus of scientists across the world.
News Corp. founder and CEO Rupert Murdoch, of all people, said it best more than 10 years ago. Despite what the talking heads on his cable network said, Murdoch argued, there was more than enough evidence for any smart businessman to recognize the need to respond to global warming — even without 100 percent certainty. That was at an event in which Murdoch announced plans for News Corp. to go carbon neutral at all its buildings, which span five continents.
In the 10 years since, whatever uncertainty there was about climate change has been removed.
Now the good news.
Gov. Cuomo and two other Democratic governors —California Gov. Jerry Brown and Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee — announced last week that they were setting up an alliance of states committed to upholding the Paris accord.
“We will not ignore the science and reality of climate change,” Cuomo said.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the sole trustee of the $192 billion state pension system with a voice in corporate shareholder governance, said he will use that power to press companies to “seek out sustainable investments and change corporate behavior.”
Another group — made up of representatives of American cities, states and companies and coordinated by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg — is reported to be preparing to submit a plan to the United Nations pledging to meet the United States’ greenhouse gas emission targets under the Paris accord. They have been joined by 82 presidents and chancellors of universities.
Keep in mind that the Paris accord’s targets were not being forced upon the United States. They were voluntary. And that China and India, who many argued would never meet their targets, are well ahead of their goals.
Bloomberg said that by redoubling their climate efforts cities, states and corporations could achieve, or event surpass the pledge former President Barack Obama’s administration to reduce America’s planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions 26 percent by 2025, from their levels in 2005.
Climate experts say that cities and states can reduce emissions in many ways, including negotiating contracts with local utilities to supply greater amount of renewable energy, building rapid transit programs and other infrastructure projects like improved wastewater treatment. Corporations has similar control.
We urge governments and businesses at all levels to address planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions — and let those who don’t comply pay a price.
This should not be a partisan issue — especially in Nassau County.
The county courthouse here is named after President Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican and conservationist whose major accomplishments included a myriad of new national parks, forests, and monuments intended to preserve the nation’s natural resources.
Republicans should live up to Roosevelt’s standards. Or change the name of the courthouse.
