Can New Jersey Meet the Paris Accord standard? Will it matter?

President Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement on June 1, 2017, saying “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.” This leaves the US alone in the world. At the time of the original signing, only Syria (of eligible countries) held back, but earlier this month it declared its intention to sign. How much difference does this make? On the plus side, the US withdrawal can’t actually take effect until 2020. Also, many states, including New Jersey, have their own targets for greenhouse gas emissions reduction, targets that are close to meeting the US contribution to the Paris Agreement. California’s targets are more stringent than the US target for the Paris Agreement, and California is actually ahead of schedule! On the bad side, the EPA is being gutted and any honest federal effort to meet the US target is unlikely. Further, even if the US made an honest effort to meet its commitment, the total contributions promised in the Paris Agreement, from ...