Newsom slams Trump’s climate denial at COP30

What happened

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) Tuesday cast himself as a “stable and reliable” American partner on climate change at the United Nations COP30 conference in Belém, Brazil. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly called climate change a “hoax,” declined to send any officials to this week’s summit, making the U.S. one of just four countries not represented, alongside Afghanistan, Myanmar and San Marino.

Who said what

Newsom was “swarmed by conference attendees and cheered for representing the U.S.” amid Trump’s boycott, Reuters said. Although California is just one state, “its economy is the world’s fourth-largest” and it has “among the world’s most ambitious climate change policies.” Trump and his “acolytes” are “doubling down on stupid as it relates to climate policy,” Newsom said, but while the administration is “dumb” on green energy, “California is not.”

Newsom used his “many packed sessions” to paint Trump as a “threat to American competitiveness by letting China dominate electric vehicles, solar panels and other clean energy technologies of the future,” The New York Times said. White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said it was “embarrassing” that “Newscum flew all the way to Brazil to tout the Green New Scam.”

What next?

The U.N. on Monday “released updated calculations” showing “projected 2035 global greenhouse gas emissions 12% below 2019 levels,” from 10% before new national pledges “rolled in” last month, The Associated Press said. But the latest figures “depend on a U.S. pledge that came from the Biden administration in December — before Trump returned to the White House and began working to boost fossil fuels and block clean energy like wind and solar.” Trump “is temporary,” Newsom told COP30 attendees. “California’s commitment is strong, and we’re in this for the long haul.”

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up