Those who believe that the Trump administration will end American leadership on climate change are making the same mistake as those who believe<br />that it will put coal miners back to work: overestimating Washington’s ability to influence energy markets, and underestimating the role that cities, states, businesses and consumers are playing in driving down emissions on their own.<br />Climate Progress, With or Without Trump -<br />By MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERGMARCH 31, 2017<br />President Trump’s unfortunate and misguided rollback of environmental protections has led to a depressing and widespread belief<br />that the United States can no longer meet its commitment under the Paris climate change agreement.<br />A week before President Trump signed the executive order to begin rolling back the Clean Power Plan, Moody’s Investor Service released a report concluding<br />that wind power could displace up to two-thirds of coal-fired power production in 15 Midwestern states.<br />In fact, even if the Clean Power Plan disappears entirely, we would still be in a position to meet our<br />Paris commitment, which is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.<br />The Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, which works to replace coal with cleaner forms of energy (and which my foundation supports), projects<br />that more plant closings will get us to nearly two-thirds of our goal.<br />Michael R. Bloomberg is a former mayor of New York, the founder of Bloomberg L. P.<br />and the co-author, with Carl Pope, of the forthcoming “Climate of Hope.”<br />A version of this op-ed appears in print on March 31, 2017, on Page A23 of the New York edition with the headline: Climate Progress, Without Trump.
