De Blasio: Trump's Expected Withdrawal From Paris Climate Agreement Will Be Disaster For NYC
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that he does not agree with President Donald Trump pulling out of the Paris Climate Change Accord and says New York City should take matters into its own hands.
As WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported, de Blasio declared that pulling out of the deal, as he put it, would be "horribly destructive to the earth."
"This is a dagger aimed straight at the heart of New York City," de Blasio said. "We have to understand that if climate change is not addressed one of the greatest coastal cities on the earth will be increasingly threatened."
De Blasio noted that Trump is a local himself.
"It's very painful to reflect the fact that Donald Trump is from New York City. He should know better," the mayor said. "He should know that what he is thinking of doing would hurt his hometown."
The mayor concluded that he plans to sign an executive order maintaining New York City's commitment to the Paris agreement, saying New York will partner with cities big and small across the country to do the same.
CBS News confirmed Wednesday morning that Trump is expected to thdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord.
As first reported by Axios, the president made the decision to withdraw from the agreement, according to two sources that have direct knowledge of the decision, CBS News reported.
Details on how the U.S. will be withdrawing are still being worked out by a team including EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, CBS News reported.
Only two other nations in the world do not support the deal, CBS News reported: Nicaragua and Syria. The 2015 accord includes nearly 200 nations that agreed to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions to help fight climate change.
A White House official told the Associated Press there might be "caveats in the language" regarding the withdrawal from the accord, leaving open the possibility that the withdrawal may not be final and permanent.
Trump has long complained that the agreement will cost the U.S. up to six million jobs and promised to pull the U.S. out of the deal during his presidential campaign.
G-7 leaders pressed him not to abandon the agreement during his first overseas trip as president last week.
