Lame duck California Governor Jerry Brown jetted off in CO2-spewing jet planes for 14 days of galas across the European Continent and a stop in New York City to showcase his climate change credentials.
Brown will give the keynote speech this week at the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences workshop, titled “Health of People, Health of Planet and our Responsibility: Climate Change, Air Pollution and Health.”
Brown joined 10 U.S. Democrat mayors (and no Republicans) at a similar event in 2015, where he railed against climate change skeptics as well-financed “troglodytes” whom, he said, are determined to “bamboozle” the public out of admitting that “human-induced climate change is a scientific reality, and its effective control is a moral imperative for humanity.”
The Sacramento Bee reported at the time that Brown flew to the 2015 Vatican conference on a private jet owned by Silicon Valley Silicon Valley real estate tycoon George Marcus and his wife, Judy. Brown apparently split the cost of the 12,365-mile junket and listed the value of the Marcus’ donation at $56,440.
Brown leveraged his climate change advocacy to gain a seat on President Obama’s official U.S. delegation to the United Nations Conference of Parties 21 (COP21) in Paris. Coupled with so-called California China and Canada climate deals, Brown was officially named by Prime Minister of Fiji Frank Bainimarama as Special Climate Advisor for states and regions to the United Nations Conference of Parties 23 (COP23), after President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Accords in June.
Gov. Brown’s lame duck tour looks like it will cover about 18,000 miles, with stops in Rome, Italy; Brussels, Belgium; Oslo, Norway; and Bonn, Germany. Brown will then fly for 3 days of meetings and galas at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
It seems that the governor will not be lonely for the company of Golden State Democrats, several of whom will be on the trip to the United Nations Framework for Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany. Rep. Scott Peters (D-San Diego) will speak at the conference on the same day after Brown, and California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) will speak on Friday, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Brown told the Times, “While the White House declares war on climate science and retreats from the Paris Agreement, California is doing the opposite and taking action.” He added, “We are joining with our partners from every part of the world to do what needs to be done to prevent irreversible climate change.”
The New York Times noted in 2013: “One round-trip flight from New York to Europe or to San Francisco creates a warming effect equivalent to 2 or 3 tons of carbon dioxide per person.”
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