Brown joins other governors to defy Trump on climate goals

Not long after President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, California Gov. Jerry Brown announced a new climate pact, this one with a group of other elected officials vowing to uphold the goals of the international agreement.

The governors of Washington and New York joined Brown in creating the United States Climate Alliance and pledged to bolster existing climate programs, share information and “implement new programs to reduce carbon emissions from all sectors of the economy.”

Brown employed provocative language in a conference call with reporters, saying “California will resist.” Reneging on the international climate pledge was “an insane move by this president,” Brown said. “The world depends on a sustainable future. He’s going the other way. It’s going to affect people’s health, the stability of countries, our entire future. “

It is unclear what the import of the new group will be, other than staking out already expressed positions to aggressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Dozens of state and cities have set goals that go well beyond what the Paris agreement prescribed.

With virtually every nation on earth signed on to the Paris pact, the U.S. joins Syria and Nicaragua in turning its back on what is widely considered a critical tool to stave off the most serious impacts of climate change. The president called the Paris accord a bad deal and explained his decision by saying he was protecting American jobs and sovereignty.

Brown said the state would  not budge from its  already ambitious environmental goals, adding: “California is all in. We are on the field ready for battle. While our president may be AWOL in the battle against climate change, we’re not. ”

In the meantime, Brown is off to China to talk trade and, of course, carbon reduction.