This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has urged world leaders not to follow Donald Trump’s lead on climate change, and declared his own intention to stave off the “tragedy” that would be the collapse of the Paris climate deal.

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The billionaire said in an interview there was no political motive tied to the release of his new book, Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet, which is co-authored with the Sierra Club executive director, Carl Pope.

“I’m not running for office,” the 75-year-old said, who considered a 2016 presidential bid after serving three terms as mayor of New York.

His new book, he said, offers a specific policy objective: to help save the Paris climate agreement, which was signed a year ago.

Under the deal, the US pledged that by 2025 it would reduce its annual greenhouse gas emissions by 26% to 28% below 2005 levels, which would be a reduction of about 1.6bn tons.

The Trump White House is debating whether to abandon the pact, as the president promised during his campaign. This week, days before thousands of protesters around the US marched in support of scientific research, a meeting on the issue was abruptly cancelled.

On Sunday, a White House official told Reuters Trump would sign several executive orders on energy this week. In March, Trump signed an executive order to roll back Obama-era climate change regulations such as the clean power plan.

“This builds on previous executive actions that have cleared the way for job-creating pipelines, innovations in energy production and reduced unnecessary burden on energy producers,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.



Bloomberg said he believed the US would hit its Paris goals regardless of what Trump chooses to do, because of leadership at the state level and market forces at play in the private sector.

“Washington won’t determine the fate of our ability to meet our Paris commitment,” he said. “And what a tragedy it would be if the failure to understand that led to an unraveling of the agreement. We hope this book will help to correct that wrong impression – and help save the Paris deal.”

Bloomberg has played a prominent role in some of the fiercest US policy debates, having invested millions in an advocacy group that pushes for stronger gun control and another that promotes liberal immigration policies. In his new book, which follows what a spokeswoman described as $80m in donations to the Sierra Club, he solidifies his status as a prominent advocate of action to combat climate change.

His policy repertoire aligns him with core values of the Democratic party, although he has no formal political affiliation.

In the interview, Bloomberg shrugged off conservatives who condemn him as an east coast elitist. He noted that policies he helped initiate in New York City – including a smoking ban and high taxes on sugary drinks – have caught on elsewhere.

“My goal has been to save and improve lives,” he said. “Some ways of doing that can be controversial at first, but end up being highly popular and successful.”

In his focus on climate change, Bloomberg directs particularly aggressive language at the coal industry.

“I don’t have much sympathy for industries whose products leave behind a trail of diseased and dead bodies,” he writes in his book, adding: “But for everyone’s sake, we should aim to put them out of business.”

Similar language haunted Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid last year and fueled criticism from Trump and other top Republicans that Democrats were engaged in a “war on coal”.

Asked about the consequences for politicians who embrace such a stance, Bloomberg offered a pragmatic approach.

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“The fact is coal in Appalachia is running out,” he said, criticizing a Trump campaign pledge: “Washington can’t put generations of people back to work in a dying industry.”

Saying coalminers “have paid a terrible price” for their work and the decline of the industry, Bloomberg disclosed for the first time plans to donate $3m to organizations that help unemployed miners and their communities find new economic opportunities. Bloomberg Philanthropies highlights the plight of coalminers in a new film to be shown at the Tribeca film festival on Wednesday.

He avoided condemning the Trump administration directly, however, largely casting the new president’s steps on climate change as irrelevant. Asked about Bloomberg’s statements, the White House declined to comment.

“As it turns out, Trump’s election makes the book’s message – that the most important solutions lie outside of Washington – even more important and urgent,” Bloomberg said.