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.
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.
-
Venezuela mobilizes as top US warship nearsSpeed Read The largest and most advanced US aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, has entered the Caribbean and put Venezuela on high alert
-
Would a 50-year mortgage make home ownership attainable?Today's Big Question Trump critics say the proposal is bad policy
-
UK, Colombia halt intel to US over boat attacksSpeed Read Both countries have suspended intelligence sharing with the US over the bombing of civilian boats suspected of drug smuggling
-
UK, Colombia halt intel to US over boat attacks
Speed Read Both countries have suspended intelligence sharing with the US over the bombing of civilian boats suspected of drug smuggling
-
Alaska faces earth-shaking loss as seismic monitoring stations shutterIN THE SPOTLIGHT NOAA cuts have left the western seaboard without a crucial resource to measure, understand and predict tsunamis
-
‘America today isn’t just looking to overcome’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump pardons 2020 fake electors, other GOP alliesSpeed Read The president pardoned Rudy Giuliani and more who tried to overturn his 2020 election loss
-
Supreme Court to decide on mail-in ballot limitsSpeed Read The court will determine whether states can count mail-in ballots received after Election Day
-
Democrats split as Senate votes to end shutdownSpeed Read The proposed deal does not extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, the Democrats’ main demand
-
‘Security is no longer a function only of missiles and fighter jets’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
USDA orders states to ‘undo’ full SNAP paymentsSpeed Read The Trump administration is telling states not to pay full November food stamp benefits
