California’s governor wants to have it both ways. Gavin Newsom wants to be the face of West Coast Democratic resistance to federal minority rule, yet his policy practices — particularly on climate issues — are often devoid of the leadership and progressive action he pretends to represent.
Consider the most recent juxtaposition. Last week, minutes after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted vital Environmental Protection Agency authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate power plants and increase clean energy production, Newsom’s office tweeted a video of the governor’s response from a fire-torn hillside.
“The idea that the U.S. Supreme Court moved to take away one of the most significant and historically powerful tools to address the ravages of climate change is incomprehensible,” Newsom said. “We’ve got to wake up to what’s going on in the Supreme Court. We’ve got to double down — quadruple down — here in California and in blue states all across America.”
