The Trump administration may be doing all it can to stymie climate change research, but there's nothing it can do to stop the rest of America supporting the Paris climate accords. Take “We Are Still In” (WASI), a powerful climate advocacy coalition, for example.
It’s a bipartisan group of states, cities, and businesses that declared their intentions to continue to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, shortly after the President made his infamous Rose Garden announcement speech. Now, in a call to reporters, representatives of the coalition have revealed that the signatories have doubled in size since June to reach 2,584 signatories.
These include representatives from all 50 states, including mayors, both Democratic and Republican governors, 252 cities and counties, 1,780 businesses and investors, 339 colleges and universities, 213 communities of various faiths, and multiple Native American tribes. All in all, WASI represents 130 million Americans – roughly 40 percent of the US population.
It also represents a huge chunk of the US economy. When combined with the state-based Climate Alliance, those in the US that support the Paris accords would, as a single entity, represent the third-richest economy in the world.
Make no mistake, WASI is a highly influential group – so much so that they’re sending a delegation to the upcoming international climate summit, COP23, in Bonn. The United Nations has gone as far as to acknowledge the impact it is having.
Jay Inslee, the Governor of Washington, made it clear that the best efforts of the White House to discredit the Paris agreement, and climate scientists, will always fall flat.
“It’s a scandal that a President would refuse to share science that the taxpayers have funded with the scientists that have paid for it. It’s a scandal that science is being suppressed,” Inslee told IFLScience.
“However, the President’s way too late. The science of climate change, and gravity, have both been established with substantial certainty,” he emphasized. “He cannot repeal the laws of gravity. In the same way, he cannot suppress the science of climate change.”
“He cannot hide this any more than he can hide the laws of gravity,” Inslee added. “The President cannot stop us.”
It’s hard to disagree with this sentiment. As explained in a recent study, America will meet half of its Paris agreement pledges thanks to the efforts of organizations like these.
The efforts of the federal government are still absolutely essential if climate change is to be properly mitigated – that almost goes without saying. Still, the fact that there will be a massive pro-Paris US delegation at the upcoming COP23 should give climate advocates, and the rest of the planet, something to smile about.
