Gov. Brown, German Minister Vow To Keep Up Climate Change Fight
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- One day after returning from a climate and trade mission in China, Gov. Jerry Brown kept up the climate change battle, deepening cooperation with Germany to reduce greenhouse gases.
Governor Brown met Friday with the German Federal Minister for Environment Barbara Hendricks as he seeks to keep California as a global leader in fighting climate change.
The meeting in San Francisco was part of the "Under2 Coalition" - a pact between governments to reduce emissions and to keep the global average temperature below 2 degrees Celsius ,the level experts say could be catastrophic for the environment.
"California, because of its leading role, has linked up with China and other countries and now with Germany," said Brown. "The reason for that is there's a lot to be done, and because of the certain lack of focus in Washington it becomes all the more imperative for the states to take responsibility."
Brown just returned from a five-day trip in China, where he signed a deal to increase work on green technology development just days after President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement.
"There are leaders in the world that care and are determined to lead the world down a path of sustainability," said Brown.
Hendricks joked that the climate should be able to survive even eight years of Donald Trump.
Despite Brown's efforts, a new report shows California still has a long way to go. A California Air Resources Board report found the state's greenhouse gas emissions dropped less than one percent from 2014 to 2015.
With just 18 months left in the job, Gov. Brown wants California to push ahead to have tougher regulations and reduce all carbon emissions.
