Connecticut's federal and state leaders were quick to denounce President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, saying the move undermines the U.S.'s leadership on the world scale and that abandoning efforts to combat climate change will be a huge detriment to future generations.

The statements from Connecticut's politicians began rolling in while Trump was still in the midst of announcing the news in the White House Rose Garden Thursday afternoon.

Trump, in announcing that the U.S. is leaving the agreement, said that we will "begin negotiations to re-enter either the Paris accord or an entirely new transaction on terms that are fair to the United States. ... We will see if we can make a deal that's fair. And if we can, that's great."

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman released a joint statement in which Malloy called the withdrawal a "grave mistake" and Wyman said the U.S. has done the "unthinkable."

Malloy was one of 12 governors, all Democrats, who, on May 3, sent a letter to Trump urging him to remain in the agreement to protect Americans from "the potentially catastrophic impacts of a changing climate."

The governors said their respective states had made progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and that they were "convinced" that the U.S. agreement, under former President Barack Obama, to reduce emissions to 26-28 percent of 2005 levels by 2025 was "readily achievable."

Malloy said in Thursday's statement that Connecticut will "continue building on our efforts to address climate change with common sense, practical initiatives that will help to build and grow our economy."

"Unfortunately, we lack a strong partner at the federal level as we go about this incredibly important work," he said.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said leaving the agreement "is a moral abomination."

"If climate change continues unchecked, the great coastal cities of the world will be wiped out, crops will fail, and people will die. That's not hyperbole — that's science," Murphy said.

He also accused Trump of not knowing "the first thing about the agreement or any of its details," and said the decision is a "gift to the Chinese and the Russians and other ascendant nations who will eagerly fill this leadership void."

In early May, Murphy helped to introduce a resolution stating that the U.S. should work in cooperation with the international community and continue to exercise global leadership to address the causes and effects of climate change.

In his statement, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, noted that the U.S. is the second largest carbon emitter in the world, and said "turning our back" on the agreement "leaves our nation without a seat at the table as the world determines climate and clean energy policies, raises troubling questions about whether our nation stands by its commitments, and undermines states like Connecticut that have longstanding commitments to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions."

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said America had been made "a lesser nation" by withdrawing from the agreement.

"America will regret relinquishing leadership and carelessly abandoning a commitment that would make our country greater," Blumenthal said. "The looming disaster of climate change is now on the shoulders of those in the Trump Administration who have undermined our credibility around the world, and jeopardized the safety and prosperity of future generations."

Trump's decision drew praise from most Republicans such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who said that by withdrawing from this "unattainable mandate," Trump has "reiterated his commitment to protecting middle class families across the country and workers throughout coal country from higher energy prices and potential job loss."

j.bergman@theday.com