Professor Ben Houlton, director of the John Muir Institute of the Environment at UC Davis, has been reaching out across campus to help students, staff and faculty apply their collaborative efforts toward the problem of climate change.

Houlton, who studies climate change and global biogeochemical cycles, offered the statement below regarding President Trump’s announcement today, June 1, that the United States would withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement:

"It is deeply disappointing that President Trump has decided to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Climate and changing weather patterns already threaten our ability to feed people, protect our borders and coastline, and enjoy our country’s amazing natural resources.

If the president is interested in renegotiating the Paris Agreement to benefit U.S. citizens, he should consider options to cut carbon emissions in half each decade moving forward by investing in our roughly 300,000 solar power employees — about double the coal and natural gas workforce.

In addition, the president can create new jobs by investing in our vast infrastructure and protecting it from extreme weather events and rising seas.

For our own part, we will continue to work with local governments, businesses, citizens and agencies to solve the climate challenge and create a higher quality of life for all people on the only planet we have."