California is certainly walking the walk when it comes to climate change. At a joint press conference in San Francisco on Tuesday held by Governor Jerry Brown and former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, legislation was signed into California law that would extend the state’s cap-and-trade programs for fighting carbon emissions for another 10 years. The bi-partisan move further solidifies California’s intention to abide by the goals set forth in the Paris Accord, which Trump backed out of in June.
In what the AP described as an event “full of open rebukes for President Donald Trump,” Schwarzenegger (a Republican) offered some harsh words for his celebrity-cum-politician brethren. “America is fully in the Paris agreement. There’s only one man that dropped out,” he said.
The measures extended on Tuesday originally aimed to reduce California carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 — a plan that is working apparently. The new endgame is an additional 40 percent reduction in emissions by 2030. By auctioning permits to pollute in addition to giving them away, the state also earns billions in revenue from the initiative.
