Since President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement, many states and cities have pledged to follow the tenets of the agreement anyway.
The governor of California went to China and struck a deal with Tsinghua University to establish a U.S.-China Climate Change Institute.
And here in Arizona, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton spoke out after the the president’s decision, pointing to extreme heat in the Valley as the direct effect of climate change. He joined the mayors of 60 other cities who signed a letter stating they would adopt the U.S.’ commitments under the Paris accord.
But what can be done on a local level without the backing of the federal government?
I brought that question to Sean Hecht, co-executive director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA’s School of Law.
