State, local and environmental leaders are falling on both sides in reaction to President Donald Trump’s commitment to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. Some are making plans to fill in for what they see as a perceived lack of leadership on climate change from the White House.
Gov. John Hickenlooper said backing out of the agreement is a serious mistake and will diminish the nation’s place as a world leader if it pursues isolationist policies such as this.
“Abandoning this climate deal is like ripping off your parachute when you should be pulling the ripcord,” Hickenlooper said in a statement.
Pete Maysmith, executive director of Conservation Colorado, said in a statement the decision will have disastrous consequences for the United States.
“Considering that there is now a tremendous vacuum in U.S. leadership when it comes to curbing climate change, we call on states to take the lead,” Maysmith said.
Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colorado, said climate change has affected Colorado with forest fires and droughts.
“Withdrawing from the Paris agreement would represent an abdication of American values,” Bennet said. “This would be yet another example of President Trump’s ‘Putting America Last’ agenda – last in innovation, last in science and last in international leadership.
Others are not opposed to leaving the agreement to fight for a better deal that does not “disadvantage the United States.”
Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colorado, said the American people deserve to have an energy future. He and other Republicans pointed out that former President Barack Obama signed the agreement without Congress, and Trump can do the same.
“The last administration never submitted the Paris climate agreement to Congress and acted unilaterally,” Gardner said. “When Congress is bypassed, a president’s orders can be reversed by a future presidential action.”
Leaving the Paris agreement adds fuel onto the already blazing nationwide debate about renewable energy and fossil fuels. The issue surfaced during the 2017 Colorado legislative session in the Select Committee on Energy and the Environment, which was tasked with hearing from experts on a variety of energy and environmental topics.
Included in these presentations from experts was a range of data on the energy sector’s impact on the state and how many jobs each facet generates.
According to data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, there are more than 860,000 jobs in energy generation nationwide; it does not include extraction jobs or indirect jobs that are byproducts of the industry. Of these jobs, 475,545 are in solar and wind energy, the two most popular areas of renewable energy.
In Colorado, there are about 25,000 jobs in energy generation, 15,000 of which come from solar and wind.
According to the Colorado Energy Coalition, Colorado is ranked No. 4 in the nation for employment concentration in renewable energy and No.1 for wind energy manufacturing. Forbes ranked Colorado 13 as America’s Greenest State, saying that the state’s carbon footprint per capita held it back.
In the past five years, Colorado employment in fossil fuel-based energy production has grown by 5.9 percent while jobs in renewables have grown by 22.4 percent.
But while jobs in renewables are growing, the average wage in fossil fuels remains significantly higher, $106,000 versus $79,000.
State Sen. Ray Scott, R-Grand Junction and chairman of the Select Committee, said doomsaying in response to the president’s decision is premature.
“The U.S. already is a leader in clean reliable energy, and we’ll continue to be a leader, so being part of the Paris climate agreement was symbolic at best,” Scott said.
He said there has been progress to be more efficient and cleaner use of fossil fuels.
“None of that progress and innovation will end because we choose not to participate in a costly, unfair, constitutionally questionable Paris climate agreement,” he said.
Mark Pearson, executive director of San Juan Citizens Alliance, said Trump’s decision will not greatly affect his organization’s efforts.
“While we can’t have much to do with international agreements here in Durango and the Four Corners, we can certainly directly change the amount of emissions that are happening right here in our backyard and that’s our big focus,” Pearson said.
Josephine Peterson is a reporting intern for The Durango Herald in Washington, D.C., and a recent graduate of American University. Reach her at jpeterson@durangoherald.com and follow her on Twitter @jopeterson93. Luke Perkins is the Denver Bureau Reporter for the Herald. Reach him at Lperkins@durangoherald.com and follow him on Twitter @Ldperkins970.
