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NH cities sign on to Paris climate agreement

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Lebanon is the latest New Hampshire municipality to sign on to the goals of the Paris Climate Accord.

President Trump pulled the United States out of the international agreement to reduce carbon pollution earlier this year.  Since then many states, municipalities, and businesses have independently pledged to uphold carbon reduction goals.

Keene, Portsmouth, and Nashua are the other New Hampshire cities to sign on to the Paris agreement.

Municipalities can reduce carbon pollution by investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency.  For example, Lebanon captures methane gas from its landfill and burns it for energy.

However, cities have no power to regulate the larger causes of carbon pollution: fossil fuel power plants, large farms, vehicle emissions, and so on.  For that reason, the actions of Lebanon, Keene, Portsmouth, and Nashua are arguably mostly symbolic.

Gov. Chris Sununu said New Hampshire would not sign onto the Paris agreement, in part because New Hampshire is already on track to reduce carbon pollution through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the Renewable Portfolio Standard.

Opponents of the Paris Climate Accord have also generally argued that it placed unrealistic and unfair restrictions on domestic industry.

Would you support your town pledging to reduce carbon pollution? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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