Every burned town is tragic. But Newsom needs to lead with science, not sentiment.” The president concluded by saying that “we will be leaving the Pacific with some of the strongest water management policies in the world.”
I am reminded of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s powerful line that “a nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his ban as flag. But he is stronger for having him at the gate.”
President Trump has been an enemy of science for years. His political enemies are just as dangerous as the enemies of science. But while attacking the science of climate change, he is actually protecting the climate and saving lives by withdrawing from the Paris Accords.
The good news is that California may already have an alternative to a cap-and-trade system. Governor Newsom, Governor Brown, and the California Legislature have already begun to take actions that would address the threat of climate change. The public will have a chance to weigh in on the Paris Accords as they vote on November 6.
California’s Climate Action Plan
The California Climate Action Plan outlines three initiatives that would create California’s climate finance and emission reduction targets while investing in clean energy, cutting pollution, and providing economic development incentives.
1. The California Clean Energy Initiative, including renewable energy targets for 2020 (80 percent), 2030 (90 percent), and 2050 (95 percent), and carbon reduction targets of 45 percent by 2030; and a cap-and-trade system that would invest $4 billion per year in clean energy technology and carbon pricing. The Climate Action Plan also calls for the creation of a “Climate Investment Fund” to cover 10 years of additional state and local clean energy targets, including a $20 billion investment in a clean energy economy. The Climate Action Plan calls for the first phase of the plan, which includes the Clean Energy Initiative, to be completed by 2020.
2. The California Climate Incentives Initiative, which would establish three separate programs: (1) The California Clean Energy Incentives Program, aimed at making energy more competitive and sustainable, with three primary objectives: (a) increase electricity and natural gas savings; (b) create a “low-carbon
