California to work with foreign countries on climate change policy

December 27, 2016

California Gov. Jerry Brown and leaders in the state Legislature are vowing to go around the incoming Trump administration and work directly with other nations and states in order to defend and strengthen California’s climate change policies. [New York Times]

President-elect Donald Trump has packed his planned cabinet with nominees who dispute the science of global warming and oppose policies intended to combat climate change. Trump has also signaled he will pull the United States out of the recent Paris climate agreement.

In an interview with the New York Times, Brown said the election of Trump is a setback for the climate movement, but the setback will be fleeting.

“In a paradoxical way, it could speed up the efforts of leaders in the world to take climate change seriously,” Brown said. “The shock of official congressional and presidential denial will reverberate through the world.”

Brown also said, irrespective of what happens in Washington, California can make a significant contribution to the cause of dealing with climate change.

“I wouldn’t underestimate California’s resolve if everything moves in this extreme climate denial direction. Yes, we will take action,” Brown said.

California has already played a leadership role in the international battle against climate change. Brown spearheaded the Under 2 MOU initiative, which was joined by state, local and regional governments from 33 countries and more than 160 jurisdictions representing a population of more than 1 billion people. Those government agencies signed onto the goals of limiting global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius and reducing greenhouse gases 80 to 95 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.

Domestically, the California Legislature recently mandated a target of reducing carbon emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

California officials are also considering expanding their international cooperation on cap-and-trade policies. California’s cap-and-trade program is already linked with one in Quebec, and state officials have had discussions with Mexico and China about, too, joining forces.

Business leaders, though, say California’s far-reaching environmental regulations put the state at a disadvantage, especially as conservatives elsewhere are rolling back climate policies.

“If the other states pursue no-climate-change policies and we continue to go it on our own with our climate change policies, then we would be at a competitive disadvantage for either relocating companies or growing companies here, particularly manufacturing factories,” said Bob Lapsley, the president of the California Business Roundtable.