CLEVELAND – When German Chancellor Angela Merkel closed the recent international G20 Summit she spoke not only for herself but for many around the world: "Unfortunately -- and I deplore this -- the United States of America left the climate agreement," she stated.

Chancellor Merkel is not alone at expressing outrage at President Trump’s decision to leave the Paris Climate Accords. Local governments across the United States and the world are joining together to commit themselves to combatting climate change by taking concrete actions to measure, target, reduce and adapt to the problems caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

Today, Cuyahoga County joined those efforts by signing on to the Compact of Mayors, the world’s largest cooperative effort among local government leaders to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, track progress, and prepare for the impacts of climate change.

“President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement is harmful to the health of the planet and to the health of Cuyahoga County and its residents. We must do all we can to protect the health of the citizens of our county, both today and into the future. We will do our part to adhere to and even exceed the targets set by the Paris Accords. We will develop a Climate Change Action Plan in accordance with standards set up by the Compact of Mayors,” said Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish.

“Over the course of the next 6 months, we will be measuring in detail the greenhouse gases that come out of Cuyahoga County a nd work with partner agencies and governments including the City of Cleveland to set greenhouse gas reduction goals, strategies to achieve the goals and ways for our local region to deal with the issues that Climate Change presents to us,” said Mike Foley, Director, Cuyahoga County Department of Sustainability.

For additional questions contact Mike Foley at:
216 443-3055 office
216 390-2216 cell
mfoley@cuyahogacounty.us