As the highest-ranking U.S. official at the United Nations’s annual climate summit, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) used the spotlight to tout California as a leader in curbing climate change and bash the Trump administration for its absence.
Newsom was in attendance at the U.N.’s annual climate summit, COP30, in Brazil this week. Newsom has used the climate summit to criticize the Trump administration for reversing course from the Biden administration and cutting policies meant to boost clean energy in favor of fossil fuels, as well as to burnish his climate credentials as a possible 2028 presidential candidate.
“I’m here in the absence of the leadership from [President] Donald Trump,” Newsom told SkyNews at COP30 on Tuesday. “I’m here to show up on behalf of my country, and I’m here to showcase California’s leadership dominance in the low-carbon green growth space.”
“I’m here because I think it’s more than electric power. It’s about economic power, and I’m not going to cede America’s economic leadership to China,” he added.
COP30 brings together thousands of international delegates, indigenous peoples, and other climate activists. The summit will include talks on how governments can reduce emissions, as many have fallen short of their targets.
Newsom has taken aim at the Trump administration for skipping the event ever since arriving in Brazil on Monday. At a Milken Institute event in São Paulo, ahead of the summit, Newsom said the administration’s absence was disrespectful to all those attending the event.
The governor said the U.S. should engage with Brazil. He then accused Trump of giving the country the “middle finger” by imposing “shameful” tariffs of 50% on Brazilian goods.
Trump and Newsom have clashed over a series of policy changes the administration has implemented, including those related to climate. California has filed nearly 46 lawsuits against the Trump administration.
Katelyn Roedner Sutter, California state director at the Environmental Defense Fund, told the Washington Examiner it is “incredibly important” that Newsom is at the climate summit.
“I’m disappointed in the lack of leadership from the federal government on this issue,” Sutter said. “I think it’s created this opportunity where states can and are really stepping up to fill a void, and that’s what Gov. Newsom is doing.”
The Trump administration has steered away from engaging in global climate events as it withdraws from the Paris Climate Agreement, through which nations have agreed to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
However, Heather Reams, president and CEO of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, criticized Newsom’s trip to COP30, arguing that it was a means of political gain.
“Unfortunately, Senate Democrats chose to keep the government shutdown for more than 40 days, which prevented a Republican congressional delegation from attending COP30,” Reams said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “Unsurprisingly, Governor Newsom took advantage of the opportunity, turning it into a calculated play to advance his own political ambitions.”
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told the Washington Examiner in a statement that Newsom’s trip to Brazil was “embarrassing,” as he promoted the “Green Energy Scam” while California faces the highest energy prices in the country.
“It’s time for Newscum [a derogatory nickname for Newsom] and other countries to drop the climate facade,” Rogers said. “President Trump will not allow the best interest of the American people to be jeopardized by the Green Energy Scam. These Green Dreams are killing other countries, but will not kill ours thanks to President Trump’s commonsense energy agenda.”
The Trump administration has reversed policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions and subsidizing clean energy. Among those policy changes are significant cuts in subsidies for clean energy technology that were part of the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act.
Additionally, Trump has signed into law resolutions that prevented California from implementing vehicle emissions rules intended to reduce auto pollution and promote the use of electric vehicles. One of the resolutions banned the state from imposing a ban on gas-powered vehicles by 2035. The other two regulations would have set strict emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles and nitrogen oxide pollution from trucks.
California has sought to become a leader in these measures. Newsom noted that the Golden State plans to continue prioritizing clean energy technology and climate policies.
“China, they’re not interested in this debate. They are flooding the zone, and they’re going to dominate in the next great global industry,” Newsom said at the summit.
“The United States of America is dumb as we want to be on this topic, but the state of California is not, and so we are going to assert ourselves, we’re going to lean in, and we are going to compete in this space,” he said.
COP30: EVERYTHING TO KNOW ABOUT THE UN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE
At the summit, Newsom signed agreements with several nations, including the Netherlands and Nigeria, to partner on climate action.
“We’re here with an open hand, not a closed fist. So we’re doing everything in our power. And there’s a resistance to Trump and Trumpism that is emerging in the United States. But I hope people’s state of mind globally is that he is not a permanent fixture of my country,” Newsom said.
