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By: Mario Conde
It’s just a matter of days before Donald Trump gets sworn in as President of the United States. The man that was able to break the political establishment will take over as the most powerful man in the world. There is great anticipation of what he will do once in office that has many groups waiting to see what will happen.
One of the key issues Trump will defer himself from President Barack Obama is in the environment.
California has set an example nationwide when it comes to environmental policy. California Governor Jerry Brown signed the “AB 197-Green Gases: State Air Resources Board” authored by Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia from Coachella that represents the Imperial Valley.
This bill brings about greater equity, transparency, and public accountability to future climate change policies. AB 197 creates a Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies, in addition, this bill requires the Air Resources Board to prioritize direct emissions reductions and consider potential impacts when adopting regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The bill will add two additional members’ to be compromised of the legislature to be non-voting members on the joint committee.
President Elect-Donald Trump has stated that he doesn’t know if climate change was real and then nominated Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency.
Trump also nominated ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. “These appointments, combined with Trump apparent lack of introducing in environmental issues, is expected to clash with California’s bill”, stated Assemblyman Garcia at a recent meeting with the Calexico Rotary Club.
Assemblyman Garcia said at the meeting that California is preparing itself to fight Trump to defend its environmental laws and also in other fronts such as immigration and health care. Recently, Brown appointed Xavier Becerra as California Attorney General to lead the legal battles against Trump and added ex-Attoney General Eric Holder to the team.
Trump and California will clash in many fronts but it’s yet to be seen how will the United States will lead the world (or not) in environmental issues and climate change. Will Trump quit the Paris agreement? Will drilling in U.S. shores be permitted again? One thing is for sure: Obama’s environmental legacy is at risk coming January 20th.
