by Katy Grimes, E&E Legal Senior Media Fellow and California Globe Editor
As Appearing in the California Globe
‘Later is too late to address climate change, but we can’t do it alone’
Gov. Gavin Newsom and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern signed a “pledge” Friday agreeing to help fight climate change together by working to put millions more electric vehicles on the road.
Why? New Zealand is over 6,700 miles from California and continents away. What is the relevance?
“Later is too late to address climate change, and California is taking aggressive steps to bolster the clean economy while reducing pollution in our communities – but we can’t do it alone,” Gov. Newsom said. “This partnership with New Zealand, another global climate leader, will strengthen ties between our two governments to deploy critical solutions that are essential to addressing this existential crisis.”
According to Gov. Newsom’s press statement, “Expanding California’s global climate leadership, Governor Gavin Newsom today established a new international climate partnership with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. California and New Zealand signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) to tackle the climate crisis, reduce pollution, and bolster the clean economy, while emphasizing community resilience and partnership with indigenous leaders.”
Back in June 2008, the leaders of Alaska, British Columbia, California, Oregon, and Washington signed the Pacific Coast Collaborative Agreement, amounting to a “compact,” which is prohibited between states without Congressional approval.
But that has never deterred California’s governors. And Gov. Newsom’s administration just changed the name of the deal from “compact” to “Memorandum of Cooperation.”
