At least 86 have signed on thus far. They represent more than 40 million people from red states and blue states — which seems to contradict Vice President Mike Pence's assertion Friday that climate change is "for some reason" just "a paramount issue for the left." The list of mayors includes St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, who announced Friday he would continue to strive to reduce the city's carbon footprint in accordance with the Paris agreement in a particularly biting statement.
"For far too long our city has ignored the challenges created by our changing climate," Kriseman said in a statement issued to reporters Friday. “My administration is the first in our city's history to recognize the challenge of climate change and tackle it head on. I'm proud of our record on fighting climate change, from implementing curbside recycling to pledging to become a 100 percent clean energy city. I'm also proud to say that we will continue to uphold the agreement that President Barack Obama and 194 other nations came together to make in 2015. Climate change is a global force with local consequences, and our beautiful coastal city is no exception."
On Friday, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn told FloridaPolitics.com's Joe Henderson that his city would also be pursuing more aggressive goals for reducing carbon emissions and pursuing renewable energy, and a spokeswoman confirmed Saturday that Buckhorn has signed onto the pledge.
If there seems to be a political bite to Kriseman's statement, it's because there is.
Kriseman faces an unusually tough reelection fight this year. Though the race is technically nonpartisan, he is a Democrat and the most formidable of his four challengers, former Mayor Rick Baker, is a Republican.
Baker has yet to say anything about Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Paris agreement. He has, though, expressed concern for the environment, including climate change, in the past. The city also got its Green City designation when he was mayor. Former Republican Governor Charlie Crist, who is now a Democratic Congressman, reportedly appointed Baker to a climate change task force. Crist now supports Kriseman's reelection bid.
Kriseman's campaign manager, Jacob Smith, chimed in on Baker's apparent reticence via the statement.
"Rick Baker should know better," Smith said. "As a former member of the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida, Rick Baker has chosen to be silent and side with Donald Trump over doing the right thing and speaking out against Trump’s irresponsible political move. St. Pete needs a mayor who will stand up to dangerous decisions coming out of the White House. Not one who buckles to their party's president, refusing to even say the words ‘climate change.’"
Through a campaign spokeswoman, Baker issued a statement that pivoted to St. Pete's sewage crisis, when, in the wake of heavy rains in 2015 and 2016, city officials were faced with a choice between letting raw sewage bubble up into St. Pete's streets or sending it out into the bay. They did the latter, which has since been a political albatross for the Kriseman administration. The statement also points to his record on seeking to curb carbon during his administration.
"To me a clean and healthy environment is critical to our health and quality of life, that's why I am extremely concerned about the impact the Kriseman administration inflicted on Tampa Bay when he dumped 200-million-plus gallons of sewage," the statement read. "I intend to continue the positive green initiative I started in 2006, when St. Petersburg was designated Florida's first green-city, and again under my leadership by executive order in 2008 when we created a carbon scorecard for city facility and vehicle use mandating energy conservation."
The current mayor's campaign seems to be trying to offset that by pointing to Baker's unwillingness to say whether he voted for Trump or currently supports him — if he did, it probably wouldn't go over well with many of the city's voters, either.
This article appears in Jun 1-8, 2017.