President Trump claims to be a president for Pittsburgh, not Paris. I’m a native of Pittsburgh. I don’t know in what decade Mr. Trump is living when he defends his decision to back out of the Paris climate accords by his disingenuous suggestion that he is acting on behalf of Pittsburgh. Really?

When the steel industry was at its height 70 years ago, the Iron City needed to keep its streetlights on throughout the day. My dad’s shirts were soiled by the time he got home, made dirty just by walking from one client’s office to another. I can’t even imagine the rate of lung cancer and asthma that plagued residents decades ago.

I left Pittsburgh in 1972. The steel industry had gone into its final decline, unemployment was rising and opportunities for young people were few. Imagine my surprise when Pittsburgh showed up on lists of “most livable cities” by the 1990s. What caused the turnaround?

As Pittsburgh bottomed out, leaders from business, education and government came together to form a new vision for the downtrodden city. They steered investments into education, biomedical research and technology development. They also invested in downtown redevelopment, with a particular focus on the arts and entertainment. It’s no accident that Google set up shop in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University.

Oh, yes, the city also continues to welcome immigrants, knowing that the engines for innovation depend upon the best talent recruited from anywhere – and everywhere – in the world.

The world Mr. Trump repeatedly alludes to ceased to exist in the 1960s. That coal-powered, steel-producing, belching-smokestack train that Mr. Trump wants us to board left the station long ago.

Elizabeth Miller

Portland