SACRAMENTO, California — Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking California’s climate story — with its big ambitions and political risks — on the road.
The Democratic governor, Biden surrogate and potential presidential contender is pushing aggressive climate action in appearances from China to the Vatican, selling it as a winning issue beyond the borders of his deep-blue state.
His pitch: The effects of climate change are upon us, and the world — including California — ignores them at their peril.
California is “meeting the moment head-on as the hots get hotter, the dries get drier, the wets get wetter, simultaneous droughts and rain bombs,” Newsom said last month in a Central Valley orchard outfitted with solar panels and batteries. “We have to address these issues with a ferocity that is required of us.”