Trump's blowing smoke. Pittsburgh climate change expert speaks out.

https://www.vox.com/first-person/2017/6/3/15733090/climate-change-pittsburgh-paris-accord

"I was elected to represent the people of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” said President Trump during a speech this week announcing the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.

As a climate change policy researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, my mouth dropped when I heard this soundbite. I’ve been living in Pittsburgh for 20 years and have studied air pollution and climate change for much of the last decade.

Trump is wrong — the people of Pittsburgh care about climate change. Yes, those living in the “steel city” take great pride in the industrial history of the area and pay tribute to the hardworking coal miners who helped make Pittsburgh thrive. But they are cognizant of the impact those thriving years had on the environment.

Vast coal consumption in and around Pittsburgh led to severe air, water and land pollution. This pollution made the lives of Pittsburgh residents harder and caused many to die prematurely. While once there was little understanding of the effects of burning coal on climate change, the CO2 emissions from burning coal contributed to this pollution. Today, Pittsburgh is home to many policy and science researchers — at Carnegie Mellon and other area universities — who are devoted to understanding the impact of climate change.

SNIP