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Why Cary's Mayor Didn't Sign The Climate Letter Opposing Trump

Matt Couch

The mayors of North Carolina's largest cities have signed a letter that opposes President Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement.

But some mayors have stayed out of the conversation.

That group includes Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht. However, he hasn't signed not because of his personal convictions, but rather because he doesn't have full support from the entire council.

"Saying that there's no global warming is, to me, equivalent to saying that the Earth is flat," he said. "It makes no sense at all to me.  But I have three council members who support Trump on this."

Furthermore, Weinbrecht said it's more important for his town to concentrate on state and local protections.

"Some of the things we worry about on the local level are stream buffers," he said. "The state has a 50-foot buffer and we have a 100-foot buffer, and we have a legislature that's trying to take that away from us."

The mayors of Fayetteville, High Point and some other suburban parts of the Triangle have not signed the agreement either.

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Will Michaels is WUNC's Weekend Host and Reporter.
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