From dismay to nonchalance, local reactions on the Paris climate accord withdrawal appeared split along ideological lines.

For environmentalists and progressives, President Trump’s long-awaited announcement on Thursday registered like a gut punch, raising questions not only about the United States’ place in the global order but for the future of the planet.

“It’s putting America first, as if there are no other concerns on a global scale,” said Anjuli Kapoor of the Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission. “The lack of cooperation with other countries is concerning.”

To those who doubt climate science, and to business groups that keep a focus on the bottom line in the Pikes Peak region, reactions were muted.

“The overall consensus here is because we truly don’t have a robust clean tech industry in our area, we don’t see it as influencing local business,” said Patrice Lehermeier of the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce and EDC.

Several groups contacted by The Gazette noted that rising temperatures have already been blamed for an uptick in the kind of natural disasters that have pummeled the region.

“If we have more wildfires, or more severe floods, that would certainly be a concern of ours for our parks and open space,” said Susan Davies of the Trails and Open Space Coalition. The nonpartisan group took no position on the issue but represents constituents with ongoing concerns over climate change, Davies said.

Rising carbon levels have already translated to air quality concerns in Colorado, the Colorado Sierra Club of Colorado said in a statement, citing a recent American Lung Association study that put Denver and Fort Collins in the top 20 cities with the worst air quality (At 11th and 15th places respectively).

“This president and his administration are on the wrong side of history with this remarkably short-sighted decision,” said Jim Alexee of the Colorado Sierra Club. “Global climate change is an issue that requires moral and political leadership from the U.S. and energy-rich states like Colorado.”

One local political leader might dismiss such talk. While El Paso County Commissioner Stan VanderWerf said he doesn’t know much about the Paris climate accord, he said he is suspicious about climate deals.

“They are usually connected to an agenda and not the real issues,” VanderWerf said. VanderWerf cited the 2008 Kyoto Protocol as an example. He said the fact that China did not sign the Kyoto Protocol, a 1992 international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, was unfair.

Meanwhile, the city’s publicly owned utility said it would stay its present course.

The exit from the Paris Accord “has no impact on our continued efforts to improve our community’s air quality and add more renewable energy to our generation mix,” said Colorado Springs Utlities spokeswoman Amy Trinidad. “We take being a responsible environmental steward very seriously.”

CSU is on track to decommission the Martin Drake Power Plant no later than 2035, and the oldest and smallest generating unit at the plant was retired at the end of last year, she said.

Trinidad also said emissions from the city’s two coal-fired power plants have “decreased significantly over the past decade.”

A CSU critic who has disputed the utility’s representations about emissions took a different position.

Leslie Weise, who is involved in a lawsuit against CSU involving allegations that the Drake plant is pumping “poison” into the air, characterized Trump’s decision as a blow to progress.

“Withdrawal from the Paris accord is in disregard to the scientific consensus, the majority of Americans and pretty much the entire world,” she said. “A fossil-free future is already the path the world is taking. It is to America’s peril to forgo a leadership role.”

Amy Gray, local team leader for environmental organization 350 Colorado Springs, called Trump’s decision to pull the United States from the agreement “atrocious.”

The task of spurring movement toward clean energy sources and limiting carbon emissions now falls on state and local leaders, who must push for eco-friendly policies and legislation, she said.

“What we’re hoping is that state and local leaders decide to hold to the Paris climate accord regardless of the administrations’ decision today,” she said.

Gazette reporters Debbie Kelley, Seth Bodine and Rachel Riley contributed to this story.