California Governor Jerry Brown on the Climate Crisis

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: So, Governor, I’m hearing it stalled and to me it’s a little bit of a shock because even after President Trump pulled the United States out

last year of the Paris Climate accord, you and others like Mayor Bloomberg were saying, “But hang on a second, the United States is still going for

it. It’s the cities and state thing and we’re still leading the way.” But now, you’re saying it’s stalling in other countries as well. Why is that?

Is that because they’ve got a pass from the United States?

JERRY BROWN, GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA: No. You have an economy that is based on oil, gas and coal. The very essence of maturity is fossil fuel.

So, trying to get off that doesn’t happen with a bill or the snap of one’s fingers. This takes a growing understanding, a scientific research and

development and massive, trillions of dollars investment in new technology, clean energy and different patterns of land use.

California is doing a lot. This week we’re doing even more with our 100 percent commitment of renewable electricity. But the emissions are going

up in Germany, in China, in India and all over the world.

So, this is a real threat. But unlike war, we don’t see the enemy. The enemy is catching up with us but it’s obscure enough and global enough that

any individual company is slow to react. And that’s why the subnational jurisdictions, states, cities and regions are stepping up to the plate at

this Global Summit in San Francisco.

But that’s just one more step. We need 1,000 steps from this day forward and continuously over the next several decades to get the zero carbon

emissions. If we don’t, we’re going to have deaths, we’re going to have mass migrations. It will make the European migrations look like a tea

party.

We’re facing big, big dangers in changes. Unfortunately, we can’t see them. Fortunately, they’re not here. But unfortunately, we can’t grasp it

in our imagination to make the concrete financial and political moves and decisions that will forestall this horror that is coming down our way.