Our Letter to the President (March 2017)

#ClimateMayors Letter to President Trump on Roll Back of U.S. Climate Actions

March 28, 2017

Dear President Trump,

As members of the Mayors National Climate Action Agenda (MNCAA), we represent more than 42 million Americans in 75 cities across our nation — in red and blue states alike. We write to strongly object to your actions to roll back critically important U.S. climate policies including the Clean Power Plan and vehicle fuel efficiency standards, as well as proposed budget cuts to the EPA and critical federal programs like Energy Star.

Climate change is both the greatest single threat we face, and our greatest economic opportunity for our nation. That is why we affirm our cities’ commitments to taking every action possible to achieve the principles and goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, and to engage states, businesses and other sectors to join us.

As Mayors, we work with our constituents face-to-face, every day, and they demand that we act on climate to improve quality of life and create economic growth. As public servants and stewards of public funds and infrastructure, we also cannot ignore the costs of inaction. That is why we are also standing up for our constituents and all Americans harmed by climate change, including those most vulnerable among us: coastal residents confronting erosion and sea level rise; young and old alike suffering from worsening air pollution and at risk during heatwaves; mountain residents engulfed by wildfires; farmers struggling at harvest time due to drought; and communities across our nation challenged by extreme weather.

Climate action is also an investment in our economy and job creation — electric vehicles, solar power, energy efficiency and battery storage are all avenues to restoring our nation’s manufacturing base and create good, middle class jobs. Recently, thirty MNCAA cities demonstrated how we can accelerate markets and drive economic growth by issuing a formal Request for Information for the potential acquisition of nearly 115,000 electric vehicles for our municipal fleets.

The private sector recognizes the opportunities of climate action as well. Goldman Sachs is committing $150 billion to clean energy capital. Companies like Microsoft, Wal-Mart, and Google are some of the largest purchasers of solar and renewable energy. Today, one in fifty American jobs is now in the solar sector, surpassing employment in oil, gas, and coal extraction combined. Texas is once again experiencing an energy boom — this time, with wind power. In fact, the majority of wind jobs in the U.S. are in congressional districts that voted for you.

As the “Climate Mayors,” we wrote to you during your transition asking that you work with cities on climate action – the nation’s first responders and economic hubs – and to embrace the Paris Climate Agreement commitment. Instead, we fear your Administration’s recent actions and today’s executive order will undermine America’s leadership on climate action, if not take us backwards.

We urge you to change course, and to join us. In the meantime, America’s cities will continue to lead the way in moving forward in protecting our residents from the disastrous effects of climate change, and creating a thriving 21st century economy.

Sincerely,

Mayor Eric Garcetti
City of Los Angeles, CA

Mayor Ed Murray
City of Seattle, WA

Mayor Lioneld Jordan
City of Fayetteville, AR

Mayor Kasim Reed
City of Atlanta, GA

Mayor Martin J Walsh
City of Boston, MA

Mayor Rahm Emanuel
City of Chicago, IL

Mayor Sylvester Turner
City of Houston, TX

Mayor Bill de Blasio
New York City, NY

Mayor Jim Kenney
City of Philadelphia, PA

Mayor Ed Lee
City of San Francisco, CA

Mayor Sam Liccardo
City of San Jose, CA

Mayor Muriel Bowser
Washington, D.C.

Mayor Esther Manheimer
City of Asheville, NC

Mayor Steve Skadron
City of Aspen, CO

Mayor Steve Adler
City of Austin, TX

Mayor John Hamilton
City of Bloomington, IN

Mayor Suzanne Jones
City of Boulder, CO

Mayor Lori S Liu
City of Brisbane, CA

Mayor Miro Weinberger
City of Burlington, VT

Mayor Mary Casillas Salas
City of Chula Vista, CA

Mayor Stephen K Benjamin
City of Columbia, SC

Mayor Michael Hancock
City of Denver, CO

Mayor Roy D Buol
City of Dubuque, IA

Mayor William V Bell
City of Durham, NC

Mayor David Kaptain
City of Elgin, IL

Mayor Lucy Vinis
City of Eugene, OR

Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl
City of Evanston, IL

Mayor Madeline Rogero
City of Knoxville, TN

Mayor Philip Levine
City of Miami Beach, FL

Mayor Tom Barrett
City of Milwaukee, WI

Mayor Mark Gamba
City of Milwaukie, OR

Mayor Betsy Hodges
City of Minneapolis, MN

Mayor John Hollar
City of Montpelier, VT

Mayor Dennis Coombs
City of Longmont, CO

Mayor Robert Garcia
City of Long Beach, CA

Mayor Jon Mitchell
City of New Bedford, MA

Mayor Mitch Landrieu
City of New Orleans, LA

Mayor Libby Schaaf
City of Oakland, CA

Mayor Buddy Dyer
City of Orlando, FL

Mayor Greg Scharff
City of Palo Alto, CA

Mayor Jack Thomas
Park City, UT

Mayor Bill Peduto
City of Pittsburgh, PA

Mayor Ted Wheeler
City of Portland, OR

Mayor Liz Lempert
Municipality of Princeton, NJ

Mayor Jorge Elorza
City of Providence, RI

Mayor Alan Galbraith
City of Saint Helena, CA

Mayor Jackie Biskupski
Salt Lake City, UT

Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter
City of San Leandro, CA

Mayor Ted Winterer
City of Santa Monica, CA

Mayor Joe Curtatone
City of Somerville, MA

Mayor Glenn Hendricks
City of Sunnyvale, CA

Mayor Marilyn Strickland
City of Tacoma, WA

Mayor Jonathan Rothschild
City of Tucson, AZ

Mayor Jeri Muoio
City of West Palm Beach, FL

Mayor Christopher Cabaldon
City of West Sacramento, CA

Mayor Allen Joines
City of Winston Salem, NC

Mayor Kathy Sheehan
City of Albany, NY

Updated signatories as of 2pm PT on May 31, 2017

If you would like to sign this open letter, or require further information about #ClimateMayors (the MNCAA) and its activities please email info@climate-mayors.org