Pete Buttigieg Proposes Pittsburgh For Climate Change Summit During Democratic Debate

MIAMI, Fla. (KDKA) -- Pittsburgh was name-dropped by a candidate as a great place to host a climate change conference during Thursday night's Democratic presidential primary debate.

While answering a moderator's question about combating climate change, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg proposed that Pittsburgh host a summit where leaders from cities across the globe who are leading the charge against global warming could gather to address the issue.

"We've got to look to the leadership of local communities," Buttigieg said. "There's networks of mayors and cities from around the world who have come together -- not even waiting for our national governments to catch up."

"We should have a Pittsburgh summit where we bring them together as well as rejoining the Paris climate agreement."

Mayor Bill Peduto agreed with the proposal, tweeting that the city should be considered as the host for the United Nations' climate change conference in November 2022, formally known as the 28th Conference of the Parties, or COP 28.

It was far from the first time the mayor of Pittsburgh expressed his commitment to addressing climate change.

In June 2017, President Trump said that he was "elected to represent Pittsburgh, not Paris" during his announcement that he was withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate accord -- a global agreement aimed at slowing climate change by reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases.

Peduto quickly denounced the comment, saying that the city would continue to "follow the guidelines of the Paris Agreement for our people, our economy and future."

The following day, the mayor ensured that Pittsburgh would adhere to the guidelines set forth in the agreement by issuing an executive order.

Since then, Peduto has continued to uphold his position on global warming -- even traveling to Poland last December to speak on behalf of mayors from the United States at the annual U.N. climate change conference.

Read more
f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.