Local Efforts Noble, But Study Shows Scale of Climate Threat Demands 'Heavy Lifting' of National Governments

Since President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris climate agreement in 2017, a number of local governments have taken it upon themselves to meet the deal’s requirements to the extent that they can—but a new study finds that while those efforts are admirable and significant for individual states and communities, they are no match for the climate crisis fast accelerating by increased carbon emissions around the world.

Local leaders should continue doing what they can to combat the climate crisis, researchers at Data-Driven Yale found in their study. But until the United States—the world’s largest driver of greenhouse gas emissions—is led by a government that prioritize a sharp reduction of carbon emissions and a shift to renewable energy, individual cities’ and states’ ability to slow the climate crisis will be minimal.

Examining the efforts of nearly 6,000 cities and states and 2,000 businesses—like California’s advancement on Tuesday of a 100 percent renewable energy bill—found that those initiatives will only reduce U.S. carbon emissions by 1.5 billion to 2.2 billion metric tons by 2030.