State Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, urged Gov. Charlie Baker this week to join a coalition aimed at meeting the goals set forth in the Paris climate agreement -- a 2015 global pact from which President Donald Trump announced the United States will withdraw.

Contending that the president's decision to leave the pact passes the responsibility of protecting the environment on to the states, Lesser called on Baker to become a leader on the issue and join governors from across the country in the newly formed United States Climate Alliance.

Lauding the alliance, which the governors of California, New York and Washington formed in the wake of Trump's decision, the Longmeadow Democrat said it will help states share best practices and coordinate on pollution-reduction goals.

He added that "there is no reason Massachusetts should not continue its leadership and share our own expertise, goals and successes with those states that are trying to solve the most critical issue of our time."

In addition to making his case for Massachusetts joining the U.S. Climate Alliance, Lesser asked the governor to consider already introduced legislation in the state Senate that looks to make commonwealth run on 100 percent renewable energy.

"I would urge Gov. Baker to follow the Senate's lead and establish clear goals for meeting our Commonwealth's and our country's energy needs, and create tens of thousands of high paying clean energy jobs in the process," he said in a statement.

The state senator's call for the governor to join the U.S. Climate Alliance came just hours after Trump announced his plans to pull the country from the accord and pledged to renegotiate a possible entrance back into a "fairer" version of the agreement.

"We're getting out, but we will start to negotiate and will see if we can make a deal that's fair," he said of the global climate agreement during a Thursday afternoon Rose Garden event.

The move drew criticism from several Massachusetts lawmakers, including Baker.

The Republican governor, who had urged Trump to remain in the agreement, called the president's move "disappointing," but stressed that Massachusetts is committed to working with its global partners to reduce carbon emissions.

"Despite today's announcement, Massachusetts is aggressively working to exceed the goals of the Paris agreement on the state level, while growing our economy through clean energy innovation and environmental stewardship," he said in a statement.

Nearly 200 countries adopted the global pact put together during the United Nations' climate change conference in Paris, which calls on the world to cut and ultimately eliminate greenhouse gas pollution.

Under the pact, which the U.S. ratified in 2016, countries, committed to limiting greenhouse gases emitted by human activity to levels that can be naturally absorbed, among other things. It, however, imposed no sanctions on those that don't.

The United States joins Syria and Nicaragua as the only countries in a United Nations climate group not signed on to the climate agreement.