Brown defends climate policy on Canada trip
Governor criticizes Trump’s record at event in Ontario.
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown told a Canadian audience Monday that he believes President Trump’s efforts to reverse course on climate change policy are a “momentary deviation” as others in the United States seek limits on greenhouse gas emissions.
“That’s very temporary, I can assure you,” Brown said at a joint event in Toronto with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne.
The governor’s quick international trip, announced only late last week, comes as Wynne’s Liberal Party faces a stiff challenge in June’s election from the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario and its leader, Doug Ford. Critics of Wynne’s party have called for Ontario to pull out of the Western Climate Initiative, a cooperative agreement between three Canadian provinces and California on efforts to limit greenhouse gases.
Brown sought to link the efforts of Canadian conservatives with Republicans in the United States who op- pose existing climate change programs. In contrast, he told the audience, several GOP lawmakers voted last summer to renew California’s cap-and-trade program.
“I would say to the conservatives of Canada, wake up and see what your friends in California are doing,” he said.
The Democrat took particular notice of Trump’s efforts to shift away from climate change policies from the administration of former President Obama, as well as a push by the Environmental Protection Agency to cancel California’s strict limits on automobile emissions.
“If Trump tries to change that, we’ll have litigation well beyond his term in office,” Brown said, adding that the Chinese government has stepped up efforts to produce more low-emissions vehicles. “Between California and China, Trump has met his match. What he’s saying is not going to happen.”
Many of Brown’s remarks were aimed at the tough political situation Wynne faces seven weeks before Ontario’s parliamentary elections.
“Dangers abound, but success is right in our hands,” Brown said. “So don’t blow it!”