WASHINGTON Responding to President Donald Trump s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the historic Paris Agreement on climate change , dozens of state and local officials have vowed to lead where the president refuses to.

In an open letter Thursday, the mayors of 61 U.S. cities from Burlington, Vermont, to Los Angeles promised to meet commitments agreed to under the international accord, namely cutting carbon emissions in an effort to ward off the worst effects of global climate change.

We will intensify efforts to meet each of our cities current climate goals, push for new action to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius target, and work together to create a 21st century clean energy economy, the group of mayors wrote.

The world cannot wait and neither will we.

Separately, the governors of California, New York and Washington formed a coalition to convene states committed to taking aggressive action to combat climate change.