Gavin Newsom, Governor of California | Official website
California Governor Gavin Newsom has formally opposed a proposal by the Trump administration to reverse long-standing clean air and climate protections. In a letter sent to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Newsom criticized the agency’s plan to roll back emissions standards for cars and trucks by reversing the “endangerment finding.” This finding is a key basis for federal efforts to regulate greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane.
The EPA’s proposed changes were announced in July. The agency seeks to reverse decades-old policies aimed at reducing planet-warming emissions, which have been supported by scientific research.
In his comment addressed to EPA Administrator Zeldin, Newsom wrote: “I write to you not only as Governor of California — the fourth largest economy in the world — but as the leader of a state whose people must live with the daily consequences of your agency’s failures.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to reverse the scientific finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare is not just putting politics over evidence, it is bad policy, a dereliction of duty, a moral abdication, and a betrayal of the very mission entrusted to you.
The Clean Air Act could not be clearer: EPA has an affirmative duty to protect public health and welfare from air pollutants, including greenhouse gases. The Supreme Court affirmed this responsibility in 2007, ruling that greenhouse gases are pollutants subject to regulation. Indeed, in your own confirmation hearing, you acknowledged that the Clean Air Act gives EPA the authority to regulate greenhouse gases as pollutants. EPA’s 2009 Endangerment Finding recognizes that these emissions threaten the health and welfare of current and future generations. The evidence supporting this is well-documented and settled. And yet, you are now proposing to ignore binding law, overwhelming science, and lived reality.
That is not discretion — it is negligence. It is unlawful. It will cause great harm to the American people.”
Newsom outlined several consequences already experienced in California due to climate change:
Wildfires fueled by rising temperatures have killed hundreds of people, destroyed communities and tens of thousands of homes, causing damages worth tens of billions.
Extreme heat now causes more deaths annually than wildfires or floods.
Droughts have resulted in billions in losses for California's agricultural sector.
Climate-driven floods have caused an estimated $5 billion in damages in recent years.
He also pointed out that across the United States in 2023 there were 28 separate weather disasters driven by climate change with each exceeding $1 billion in damages—an all-time record—resulting in over 400 deaths and $92 billion total damages.
Newsom further stated: “EPA’s decision to advance this proposal is not only inconsistent with science, it is inconsistent with the law. It fails to meet your statutory obligations under the Clean Air Act. It violates the principles laid out by the Supreme Court. It disregards the wealth of scientific evidence and research underlying the 2009 Endangerment Finding. And in doing so, it abdicates EPA’s responsibility to the American people.”
He added: “By siding with polluters over science, EPA is telling wildfire victims to ignore the flames, flood victims to ignore the rising water, and parents of asthmatic children to ignore the dirty air that chokes their respiratory systems and takes their breath away. That is not leadership — it is an insult.”
Newsom concluded: “California will not stand by. We will continue to lead, because we have no choice; the lives and livelihoods of our people depend on it. But history will ask: where was the EPA — the agency created to protect Americans — when the nation faced the greatest environmental and public health crisis of our time?
You still have a choice: honor the law, follow credible and established science, and fulfill your duty to Americans. Or go down in history as an administration that abandoned its mission.”
According to state data provided alongside Newsom's statement, California has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 20% since 2000 while its gross domestic product grew by 78%, making it one of few economies globally achieving economic growth alongside emission reductions (https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/ghg-inventory-data). In addition, California generated two-thirds of its electricity from clean sources during 2023—the highest share among major economies—and has operated on entirely clean electricity for parts of nearly every day this year (https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/california-electricity-data/2023-total-system-electric-generation).
Battery storage capacity has increased significantly since Governor Newsom took office—now exceeding 15 gigawatts—and more than 25 gigawatts have been added overall onto California's electric grid during his administration.
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