Pittsburgh mayor slams Trump for pulling US out of Paris climate change accord, says it's now up to cities to lead

Trump seems to be alone in his decision to pull the US out of Paris climate change accord as no one is openly supporting him on that. Various city mayors have criticized him for that decision, one of who is the mayor of Pittsburgh.

Bill Peduto trolled President Donald Trump for mentioning his city to justify the decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement on climate change on Thursday...


Trump, while revealing that the US will withdraw from the accord, explained that he was elected to represent Pittsburg, not Paris and this got him the wrath of the city's mayor who replied Trump with a tweet.

"I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris," Trump said.

Bill Peduto, a Democrat, tweeted on Thursday that "it's now up to cities to lead" following the president's announcement at a White House news conference moments earlier. Peduto, together with 60 other mayors, vowed to defy Trump by abiding by the terms of the accord and making efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in spite of Trump administration's withdrawal.  The Climate Mayors, a coalition which includes New York's Bill de Blasio, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, tweeted a statement reaffirming their commitment to combating climate change.

The tweet read: "Trump may be withdrawing the US, but 61 climate mayors are adopting the Paris Agreement. Cities will lead the way."

De Blasio also tweeted from his personal Twitter account, writing:

"Opting out of Paris Accord is a grave error. Climate change is real—we feel the effects now. Trump’s choice ensures it will only get worse".

"With POTUS pulling out of the Paris Agreement, LA will stand up to lead - & work with other cities to do the same," Garcetti tweeted on Thursday.

"The United States joins Syria, Nicaragua & Russia in deciding not to participate with world's Paris Agreement," the Pittsburgh mayor tweeted.

Trump complained that major polluters like China are allowed to increase their emissions under the agreement in a way that the US cannot.  He also said that India is hinging its participation on billions of dollars of foreign aid and as such, the US could no longer continue to follow the guidelines of the agreement.

"The bottom line is that the Paris Accord is very unfair, at the highest level, to the United States," he said.

He argued later:

"The agreement is a massive redistribution of United States wealth to other countries. This agreement is less about the climate and more about other countries gaining a financial advantage over the United States."

After Trump mentioned that he was voted to serve the people of Pittsburgh, Peduto responded on Twitter the people from Pittsburg did not vote for Trump in the election.

He tweeted: "Fact: Hillary Clinton received 80% of the vote in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh stands with the world & will follow Paris Agreement."

In another tweet, he wrote:

"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"