It’s been widely speculated since the weekend that President Trump would announce that the United States is pulling out of the Paris climate agreement (and it *is* something he promised on the campaign trail, for whatever that’s worth) but progressives’ heads still collectively exploded Thursday when the announcement was finally made.

The usual predictions of famine, horror, disease, and death were immediately pronounced by the usual suspects (Leo DiCaprio, Vox, Bette Midler, Algore…) but the lamentations were heard by three men who could do something. The trio of California Gov. Jerry Brown, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo are stepping in to save the day and forming the “United States Climate Alliance.”

Governors of New York, California and Washington slam Trump’s decision — announce formation of “United States Climate Alliance” pic.twitter.com/49phcGdAin

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 1, 2017

It’s always difficult to read what these guys say with a straight face, but suspend your disbelief for just a minute.

Gov. Brown, living up to his “Moonbeam” nickname:

“The President has already said climate change is a hoax, which is the exact opposite of virtually all scientific and worldwide opinion. I don’t believe fighting reality is a good strategy – not for America, not for anybody.”

Yeah, not even gonna start with the irony in his last sentence.

Washington’s Gov. Inslee, who views this move as a wagging finger from Trump:

“Today’s announcement by the president leaves the full responsibility of climate action on states and cities throughout our nation. While the president’s actions are a shameful rebuke to the work needed to protect our planet for our children and grandchildren, states have been and will continue to step up.”

Joining in the stompy-foot chorus, Gov. Cuomo said:

“The White House’s reckless decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement has devastating repercussions not only for the United States, but for our planet.”

What are the devastating repercussions, Gov. Cuomo? The developing nations – whose environmental standards are a complete joke compared to what we already have in place in the United States – didn’t commit to really doing anything different in the Paris agreement. And even if they did, there was no third-party oversight – something that was DICTATED to us by China, India, and smaller countries. No oversight, no accountability.

Yet, because the United States generally tries to abide by agreements it enters into, would have spent into the billions in government funding at various levels, and US industries would have incurred billions of dollars of regulatory costs. And for what?

The Three Amigos have invited other states to join them in their efforts to create this alliance, which “will also act as a forum to sustain and strengthen existing climate programs, promote the sharing of information and best practices, and implement new programs to reduce carbon emissions from all sectors of the economy.”

That can be interpreted in many ways – but simply boils down to more feel-good, costly, yet ineffective regulation in those states.

It’s a good thing to see state and local leaders deciding to take action in their own communities and not looking for a federal mandate or handout to do so. Now that Barack Obama isn’t in the White House to do their bidding, they’re understanding the allure of the principle of states rights – at least in some instances. Don’t look to any local governments to decide they don’t need the federal government involved in something like, say, education. Their interest in states rights isn’t a true philosophical belief – it’s simply a Plan B for when they can’t get Big Daddy to issue a decree.