Why Trump’s pull-out of the Paris Agreement may open the door for state Governors to push their own climate action

President Trump’s announcement to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change in June 2017 triggered the promise by a multitude of US cities and states to pursue and strengthen their own climate action, thereby counterbalancing the impact of the federal government’s policy choice. Former President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry invested major diplomatic efforts and skills in the international process to make possible an ambitious international agreement that would set the world on a path to avoid damaging climatic change with serious implications for future generations. The radical policy change in the US and the subsequent reactions beg the question to what extent cities and states can contribute to the US keeping its promise made in Paris. Governors can be important players in this context. I analysed the entrepreneurship of US governors in the case of state-level greenhouse gas emissions trading policies in order to provide a better understanding of the drivers of ambitious gubernatorial entrepreneurship and state-level climate action in the United States.status: publishe