U.S. cities struggling to meet lofty climate goals

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/10/us-cities-struggling-meet-lofty-climate-goals

Source:  By Peter Behr, E&E News. 

Excerpt: Most major U.S. cities that have signed on to the climate fight with pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions are failing to meet their goals or haven't even started to track local progress, according to a survey by the Brookings Institution. The report, "Pledges and Progress," looked for climate policy and actions in the nation's 100 most populous cities, finding that two-thirds have made commitments to address citywide emissions.President Donald Trump's rejection of the Paris climate accord after he took office sparked a strong response at the local level. Mayors joined governors, business leaders and academics in taking the "We Are Still In" pledge to help meet targets for cutting emissions under the 2015 Paris Agreement. The pledge now lists 3800 signers. "At their best, the plans have exemplified the hope that 'bottom-up' actions could add up to a powerful approach to climate mitigation, especially given rollbacks in federal policy under the Trump administration including the government's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement," the report said. But the Brookings analysis found that actions taken by cities aren't matching up with their pledges to address climate change. Among the 100 largest cities, only 45 set specific targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions during the past decade and inventoried emissions levels within city boundaries as baselines for measuring progress....