Trump’s Paris Agreement exit raises alarms for climate risks in Florida and Puerto Rico

Expert warns that Trump’s administration’s denial of science and lack of action on climate change will affect vulnerable coastal communities and even inland regions, as well as coastal areas like Puerto Rico and Florida.

President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement will have international, national, and state-level effects that will directly impact Florida and Puerto Rico, two places highly vulnerable to climate change.

Frances Colón, senior fellow on the International Climate team at American Progress, described the president’s decision as concerning. Despite the US being one of the top emitters of greenhouse gases, it has also been a leader in taking significant actions to counteract these effects.

As an example, she mentioned the Inflation Reduction Act, created under former President Joe Biden’s administration. According to Colón, the legislation significantly bolstered the US’s credibility in global climate negotiations by setting clear goals and plans for reducing emissions that contribute to global warming collectively.

“With the Inflation Reduction Act, we implemented a clear plan to meet those emissions reduction goals. When we’re absent from the climate change space, when we’re not at the negotiating table, there’s far less pressure on other countries to do the right thing—to present their own ambitious goals and implementation plans. This creates a void for other powers to step into our place,” Colón told Floricua.

The Puerto Rican neuroscientist, who served as deputy science and technology adviser to the US secretary of state during the Obama-Biden administration, further emphasized that well-intentioned countries — as well as those with less noble motives — could occupy the influential space left by the US.

Unfortunately, Trump’s administration’s denial of science and lack of action on climate change will affect vulnerable coastal communities and even inland regions, as well as coastal areas like Puerto Rico and Florida.

Last year, three powerful hurricanes hit Florida, and Puerto Rico is still recovering from Hurricane Maria, six years later.

“This means that when major disasters strike, there will be a lack of dialogue about the causes and what we’re doing to either minimize or exacerbate the climate crisis. A White House that doesn’t acknowledge climate change as a fact, that doesn’t recognize the vulnerability of communities in Florida and Puerto Rico to these climate disasters, puts us in a high-risk situation for the impacts we’ll face in the coming years under Trump’s administration,” said Colón.

The expert says these so-called “unprecedented” events will become increasingly common, and thus cease to be considered extraordinary.

This reality, combined with the Trump administration’s denialism, means that if climate change isn’t addressed at the national level, it will have to be tackled at state and community levels.

“Over the next four years of federal inaction on climate change, communities will need to rely on local action. In Florida and Puerto Rico, people will have to depend on state and municipal governments to take appropriate measures to protect their communities from the impacts to come,” she added.

Colón highlighted that in the US, governors from 24 states, along with organizations, universities, and municipalities, have formed the US Climate Alliance to combat the effects of climate change.

“They are committed to climate action and will continue with their plans to reduce emissions, strengthen community resilience, and accept that climate change is happening. There is no scientific doubt that it’s happening, no doubt about its causes. They are committed to transitioning to a clean energy economy and helping communities prepare for the impacts that are undoubtedly coming,” she said.

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