Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

California’s Governor Just Launched a Warning Shot to Trump in Fiery Address

California’s Governor Just Launched a Warning Shot to Trump in Fiery Address
California Gov. Jerry Brown speaks to researchers and scientists during a call to action on climate change at the Water, Energy and Smart Technology Summit and Showcase at NASA Ames Research Center Thursday, May 23, 2013 in Mountain View, Calif. Listening from left, are panelists Waleed Abdalati, James E. Hansen, Dr. Anthony D. Barnosky, and Banny Banerjee. Brown warned scientists and policymakers Thursday that they are losing the war on climate change and urged them to become advocates for the planet. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

California Governor Jerry Brown rallied a group of scientists yesterday, striking a defiant tone when he suggested that California's government would defy the federal government on any effort to stop or reverse policies fighting global climate change.

“We’ve got the scientists, we’ve got the lawyers and we’re ready to fight. We’re ready to defend,” he said to applause at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco. “And California is no stranger to this fight. Our emission standards, our energy rules, drove U.S. policy. Whatever Washington thinks it is doing, California is the future.”


Brown, who kept a low profile since the election until his address last night, suggested that scientists and researchers should reserve their energy and enthusiasm for the "battles ahead," telling them, "Keep it up. Don't flag. We've got a lot of work to do."

In his speech, Brown issued a warning against proposed budget cuts that could eliminate NASA's earth-observing satellite programs. He reminded his audience that he earned his nickname, Governor Moonbeam, during his first tenure as governor when he suggested that California should launch its own communications satellite. (Brown even had an ex-astronaut on his payroll as a space adviser.) “I didn’t get that moniker for nothing," he said. “And, if Trump turns off the satellites, California will launch its own damn satellite. We’re going to collect that data.”

Brown also reserved words for Rick Perry, the former Texas governor who Brown has criticized for attempting to poach jobs from California, and who Trump recently nominated to lead the Department of Energy. Perry would ascend to the top post of an agency he has vowed to abolish. “Rick, I got some news for you,” Brown said. “California is growing a hell of a lot faster than Texas. And we’ve got more sun than you have oil.”

Rick Perry. (Credit: Source.)

According to Jack Pitney, a politics professor at Claremont McKenna College, it was Trump's selection of Perry, an oil industry ally, to the Energy Department, which spurred Brown's combative tone. “I think he’s reading the appointment as a rude gesture toward the state of California,” Pitney said. “If you are Jerry Brown, you see the Trump administration as a gusher of oil, which to him is not a good thing.”

The AGU meeting is not normally a hotbed of political dissent but has become the site of protests and appeals for President-elect Donald Trump not to cut back or defund climate change research. Trump, a climate change denier, has claimed that global warming is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese.

Last month, a top adviser to the president-elect hinted the incoming administration would dismantle NASA's earth science programs, as part of a crackdown on "politicized science." Shutting down the program would eliminate NASA's research into temperature, ice, clouds and other climate phenomena. That data set is instrumental in tracking hurricanes and other inclement weather and provides a treasure trove of information about coastal erosion, glacial melting, land use, wildfires, and the approach of solar storms, with the Earth science division's budget is set to grow to $2 billion next year.

In perhaps his speech's most impassioned moment, Brown referred to scientists as "truth seekers" and said that the threat to their work is greater than a couple of politicians: “We’re facing Big Oil. We’re facing big financial structures that are at odds with the survivability of our world," he said. But, he noted, one presidential term does not set the tone of policy forever––and scientists and policymakers will need to be louder and will need to push harder to keep climate change at the forefront of the national conversation: "You know that sometimes you need a heart attack to stop smoking?” he asked. “Well, maybe we just got our heart attack.”

More from People/donald-trump

P!nk & Carey Hart
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for AMAZON PRIME VIDEO

P!nk's Husband Apologizes To Her After Suffering 'Nasty' Intestinal Injury During Motocross Practice

Sometimes you have to apologize to your spouse for not doing the dishes, or forgetting an important date.

Motocross racer Carey Hart had to apologize for something far worse: getting injured while practicing. Hart, who was practicing last Thursday, had an accident that involved his handlebars jackknifing and striking him very hard in the gut.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joe Biden; Meghan McCain
The View/ABC

Clip Of Biden Comforting Crying Meghan McCain After Her Dad's Cancer Diagnosis Resurfaces

On Friday, former Democratic President Joe Biden was diagnosed with an aggressive form of metastatic prostate cancer that has already spread to his bones, according to a statement released by his office on Sunday.

Soon after, a 2017 clip of Biden comforting Republican Senator John McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain, on The Viewafter her father's own cancer diagnosis resurfaced online.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joe Biden
Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

Biden Shares Poignant Message And Selfie After Revealing He Has 'Aggressive' Prostate Cancer

Former President Joe Biden issued a poignant message on X after earlier announcing that he is battling an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

The 82-year-old Biden was diagnosed on Friday with prostate cancer after reporting urinary symptoms, according to an official statement from his office. He and his family are currently reviewing treatment options with his medical team.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Karoline Leavitt
Fox News

Musk's Chatbot Epically Fact-Checks Leavitt After She Claims Trump's Budget Bill Won't Add To The Deficit

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was fact-checked by Elon Musk's own chatbot Grok after she claimed that President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" "does not add to the deficit" despite all evidence to the contrary.

The proposed tax breaks in the GOP bill are projected to significantly exceed the spending cuts included in the legislation, raising alarm among economists and policy analysts about the potential for ballooning national debt.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Bruce Springsteen; Beyoncé Knowles
Win McNamee/Getty Images; Cindy Ord/Getty Images; Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Trump Slammed After Calling For 'Major Investigations' Into Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé And Bono

President Donald Trump was widely criticized after he called for "major investigations" into several Hollywood celebrities—a group that includes musicians Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé Knowles, and Bono–for supporting former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump's outburst came after Springsteen criticized Trump and his "corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration" during a concert in Manchester, England. Notably, Springsteen said that U.S. authorities under Trump "are persecuting people for using their right to speech and voicing their dissent."

Keep ReadingShow less