Pittsburgh mayor Bill Peduto hits back after Donald Trump says he was 'elected by voters of Pittsburgh, not Paris'

President Donald Trump announces his decision for the United States to pull out of the Paris climate agreement
Getty Images
Tom Powell2 June 2017

A US mayor has hit back after Donald Trump claimed he was “elected by voters of Pittsburgh, not Paris” while announcing his withdrawal from a global climate change agreement.

The president said the Paris climate accord, signed by Barack Obama in 2015, was “unfair” and a “bad deal” for the US in a speech outside the White House.

But Bill Peduto, mayor of Pittsburgh, was quick to respond to the President’s comment about his city.

He said: “As the Mayor of Pittsburgh, I can assure you that we will follow the guidelines of the Paris Agreement for our people, our economy & future.”

Within an hour his comment, posted on Twitter, had been shared by more than 20,000 people and ‘liked’ by more than 30,000.

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, responded: “Once again @realDonaldTrump is wrong. #Paris & #Pittsburgh do stand together for the #ParisAgreement #Cities4Climate.”

In his speech, Mr Trump did raise the possibility of negotiating to re-enter the Paris accord or an entirely new deal on terms that were "fair" to the US.

But he said of the current deal: "Not only does (it) subject our citizens to harsh economic restrictions, it fails to live up to our ideals.

"This agreement is less about the climate and more about other countries gaining a financial advantage over the United States.”

The Paris agreement, agreed under the United Nations in the French capital in December 2015, sees action by all countries to curb rising temperatures.

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