At Glasgow United Nations summit, Newsom must become the bold climate leader we hoped for

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The annual United Nations climate conference is where world leaders go to make a reputation for themselves. For Gov. Gavin Newsom, this year’s climate summit couldn’t come at a better time.

On the heels of the recall election, Newsom is primed to boldly reassert California’s leadership on climate. He ran on a pro-science message — contrasting his stance on COVID and the climate crisis with that of his conservative challengers — and it worked. The governor defeated the recall attempt by the same 24-point margin that he was elected with in 2018.

Climate-minded voters showed up by the millions for Newsom. And at the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow this November, we’re expecting him to show up for us.

Opinion

The consequences of the climate crisis are hitting California harder and faster than scientists predicted even a few years ago. This summer, for the first time in history, a fire burned from one side of the Sierra to the other. Then, just a few weeks later, it happened again.

California’s biggest climate challenges — hotter summers, a shorter rainy season, and more destructive wildfires — are all on track to become even more intense over the next ten years. Some scientists even predict that drought will make many of the crops we grow in California unviable as early as 2027.

Despite these unmistakable signs of our climate crisis, 2021 marked another year in which oil and gas interests blocked even moderate climate policies from making it out of the state Legislature. Legislation to require public health setbacks from oil and gas drilling, establish the state’s first-ever net-negative emissions target and create resilience programs for communities suffering from extreme heatwaves all ended up stalled in Sacramento. It took the Orange County oil spill for Newsom to introduce a similar oil drilling proposal of his own last week.

With state lawmakers out of session until early next year, all eyes are now on Newsom to stand up to oil and gas corporations and take further steps to invest in a climate-safe future for California.

The governor made a strong start in September when he signed a historic $15 billion investment package in climate resilience. But this investment doesn’t address the fossil fuel pollution driving the climate crisis. COP26 is the perfect time for Newsom to begin writing a new chapter in California’s climate legacy.

First and foremost, the governor needs to embrace a more ambitious timeline for climate action. The climate crisis is claiming lives in California today, but our elected leaders are still talking about reducing climate pollution by 2045. That’s too late. New science indicates that we can reach carbon negative — when we remove more climate pollution from the atmosphere than we emit — by 2030. Not only that, we can create hundreds of thousands of family-sustaining jobs and improve community health along the way.

Getting there will require the kind of bold, justice-forward climate action Newsom has promised since defeating the recall.

Climate advocates are calling on the governor to begin investing in an equitable transition for fossil fuel workers and their families. We’re asking him to start building a 21st-century electricity grid that is clean, affordable, reliable, equitable and safe to prepare communities for extreme heat, wildfires and power outages. We’re demanding greater investments in climate-friendly agriculture, natural carbon removal solutions, sustainable mobility, building decarbonization and more.

These actions are within the governor’s power and widely popular with California voters. The only limitation is how bold he will allow himself to be. In Glasgow, we hope to see Newsom show up as the climate leader California desperately needs him to be.

Ellie Cohen is the CEO of The Climate Center, a climate and energy nonprofit working to rapidly reduce climate pollution at scale, starting in California.