Survey: Mayors say climate change is pressing urban issue

BOSTON — A new survey finds that U.S. mayors increasingly view climate change as a pressing urban issue, with many advocating policies that could inconvenience residents or even hurt their cities financially.

But the annual survey being released Tuesday by the Boston University Initiative on Cities also reflects the nation's sharp political divide. Ninety-five percent of Democratic mayors who responded believe climate change is caused by human activities, compared to 50 percent of Republican mayors.

A clear majority of mayors are prepared to confront President Donald Trump's administration over climate change. The Republican president has at times called global warming a hoax and has withdrawn the U.S. from the Paris climate accord.

In all, 115 mayors from cities of 75,000 or more residents responded to the survey.

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Associated Press