The Beaufort Gazette
June 8, 2017
By Stephen Fastenau
Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling has joined hundreds of other mayors and business and university leaders in supporting a worldwide pact to combat global warming.
Keyserling signed a letter committing to the Paris climate agreement, which was signed by world leaders in 2015 and set goals for reducing emissions and slowing the planet’s rising temperature.
President Donald Trump announced last week the U.S. will withdraw from the agreement.
“Tell me if I am wrong, but I believe that the environment, air and water quality, offshore testing and drilling for oil and gas and rising sea levels will be huge considerations for the next generation and we should do our absolute best to prepare them protect those interests,” Keyserling wrote in his most recent weekly newsletter.
Keyserling said the issue wasn’t partisan and that City Council hasn’t considered the petition.
“The Trump administration’s announcement undermines a key pillar in the fight against climate change and damages the world’s ability to avoid the most dangerous and costly effects of climate change,” reads the letter signed by local and state government leaders, universities and businesses. “Importantly, it is also out of step with what is happening in the United States.”
Keyserling is the only Beaufort County official on the list. Mayors in Anderson, Charleston and Columbia have signed their support, as well as University of South Carolina president Harris Pastides, Furman president Elizabeth Davis and the S.C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce.
Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/community/beaufort-news/article155030514.html#storylink=cpy