By Keith Fowler / SD350.org
On the eve of a critical UN global climate summit in Paris in December, Governor Jerry Brown, a self-described environmentalist and green economy advocate, needs to bring California’s economic policies into alignment with his strong climate change statements.
Governor Brown has been sending citizens mixed messages. Despite signing an Executive Order earlier this year calling for a reduction in California’s greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, he continues to refuse to place a state moratorium on the dangerous practice of fracking. Despite declaring at the Vatican in July of this year that climate change is serious enough to be “about extinction,” Governor Brown still accepts hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Big Oil, an industry that continues on its mission to extract and emit every last barrel of oil regardless of ecological consequences.
President Obama’s invitation to the governor to join him as part of the U.S. delegation traveling to Paris offers Brown the opportunity for bold action. Obama’s recent decisions to halt further construction on the Keystone XL pipeline and to attend the Paris conference are both evidence of his desire to be seen as a promoter of green, clean energy and climate change mitigation. For Brown the same opportunity beckons. [Read more…]