Mayors Seeing Green

A week and a half ago, President Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement. In my post last week, I listed a few of the past presidents who took action on behalf of the environment, which included both Democrats and Republicans.

In response to the president's withdrawal, many businesses, state governors and city mayors pledged to uphold the U.S.'s side of the agreement, even if the country as a whole is no longer a participant.

On June 1st, the so-called Climate Mayors from around the country released a statement vowing to move forward on environmentalism, proclaiming:

"If the President wants to break the promises made to our allies enshrined in the historic Paris Agreement, we’ll build and strengthen relationships around the world to protect the planet from devastating climate risks."

Mayors who signed on include Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles, Martin Walsh of Boston, Bill de Blasio of New York City and Ed Lee of San Francisco. But there are numerous mayors of smaller cities and towns, including Susan Ornelas of tiny Arcata, CA, who signed on as well.

Some of the 298 Climate Mayors.  

Is your mayor's name on the list? I'm proud to say that Jesse Arreguin of Berkeley is on there!

But can mayors really defy the president like that?

It's complicated.

Tensions between local governments and the federal government are as old as the country itself. Fresh off the heels of the Revolutionary War (late 1700s, early 1800s time frame), debates over the role of government gripped our new country. In a simplistic breakdown, the Federalists (people like Alexander Hamilton and James Madison) wanted a strong central government. The Anti-Federalists (people like Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry) wanted power concentrated at the local level.

Federalist arguments in favor of a strong central government are collected in The Federalist.

The debates took place in taverns, churches, pamphlets and newspapers. Here are some Federalist zingers from that time.

James Madison:

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself."

James Madison.

Alexander Hamilton:

"If mankind were to resolve to agree in no institution of government, until every part of it had been adjusted to the most exact standard of perfection, society would soon become a general scene of anarchy, and the world a desert."

Alexander Hamilton.

Anti-Federalists dished it back with equal vigor.

John Francis Mercer:

"The object of a free and wise people should be so to balance parties, that from the weakness of all you may be governed by the moderation of the combined judgments of the whole, not tyrannized over by the blind passions of a few individuals."

John Francis Mercer.

Philanthropos:

"Beware my countrymen! Our enemies - uncontrolled as they are in their ambitious schemes, fretted with losses, and perplexed with disappointments - will exert their whole power and policy to increase and continue our confusion. And while we are destroying one another, they will be repairing their losses, and ruining our trade."

(Visual approximation).

I guess if you were to follow the trajectory from history, you could say on a very basic, BASIC level (with dozens of exceptions) that Democrats are the Federalists of today and that Republicans, on a very basic, BASIC level (with dozens of exceptions), are the Anti-Federalists.

But more often the positions flip based on who's in power and whether the minority party is happy with the decisions being made.

Some states with Republican governors, for example, did all they could to defy President Obama's Affordable Care Act.

With the Climate Mayors, on the other hand, while both parties are represented, a majority are Democrats who, on this particular issue at least, feel compelled to bypass President Trump's decision and move forward with their own agenda.

The tug-of-war over who in government holds the power is as American as apple pie, and, with our political structure and history (barring an unfortunate dictatorial takeover), never ends.

Democracy, it has been observed repeatedly, is messy. But who wouldn't want to be along for the ride?


I am currently working on a book about Ah Toy, the first Chinese brothel madam in gold rush San Francisco.

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