Why Wichita’s mayor won’t commit to Paris climate agreement

Hundreds of mayors across the United States have signed a pledge to support meeting the Paris agreement to curb the effects of climate change.

Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell is not one of them.

“I’m not ready to sign on yet,” Longwell said Friday. “There are multiple concerns I have with that agreement.”

The Paris agreement is an international pact reached in 2015 where countries set voluntary goals on reducing their greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

Earlier this month, President Trump declared he was withdrawing the United States from the agreement. Syria and Nicaragua are the only other countries who did not join the accord.

Longwell said he is mindful of environmental issues and thinks renewable energy is “a big part of our future.”

“I want to be very deliberate about providing opportunities for future generations,” he added. “We all need to work at leaving our city, our planet, in better shape than we received it in.”

But Longwell said he was concerned about United States climate funding going to “Third-World” countries plagued by corruption.

“I truly have concerns signing onto an agreement that continues to potentially push dollars into the wrong hands,” he said. “I really don’t like seeing our tax dollars siphoned off to corrupt politicians.”

The Green Climate Fund channels money to developing countries more vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

In his announcement on the Paris agreement, Trump called the fund a scheme to redistribute wealth from rich countries, according to the New York Times.

Longwell said the United States would be forced “to pay more than our fair share.”

“The money’s not getting to the proper place,” Longwell said. “I think it’s not getting to the right people and that’s part of the concern.”

“I think the Paris agreement doesn’t position us properly to safeguard the dollars,” he added.

When asked if he thinks humans are a significant contributor to climate change, Longwell replied, “I don’t know if I want to even get into that.”

“When we get into the argument of climate change itself, there are just so moving parts that I’m not ready to sit down and argue that,” he said. “Why do we need to argue that? Why can’t we just have the goal (of renewable energy)?”

“Renewable energies are good regardless of the arguments on climate change,” he added. “That provides an opportunity to be self-sufficient.”

After Trump’s announcement, hundreds of mayors, businesses and college and university leaders signed a letter to the international community that “we will continue to support climate action to meet the Paris Agreement.” The mayors of Lawrence and Kansas City, Mo., signed on.

Longwell said the letter, which he called “too broad of a statement,” puts local leaders into a box. He said skeptics of the Paris agreement are being characterized as “not caring about the environment.”

“It shouldn’t be that way,” Longwell said. “Let’s work together to change the real concerns in this and we can all work together in reducing our carbon footprint…without wasting dollars.”

This story was originally published June 9, 2017 at 11:08 AM with the headline "Why Wichita’s mayor won’t commit to Paris climate agreement."