Public Comment

Governor Brown has become a hero almost overnight. He harshly criticized President Trump for his "reckless decision" to pull out of the Paris Climate agreement. Moreover, he aims to do something about it. Committing himself to playing a leadership role, Brown vowed that he and others will not just stand by. "California will resist this misguided insane course of action. Trump is AWOL but California is on the field, ready for battle".

About the unusually favorable press he got, one prominent reporter refers to the California Governor as "one of the nation's foremost proponents to address climate change". Willie Brown, a former politician, who is now a free lance writer for the SF Chronicle also sings high praise. "Jerry Brown is in political heaven" and on the issue of climate change "Brown is going to be our premier".

Nevertheless, as an activist with a coalition of environmental groups complained, "It's hypocritical for Brown to call himself a climate leader". He supports fracking, which is a process that not only boosts fossil fuel production. It does so by polluting our air and water. Fracking also worsens climate change, which Brown agrees is very dangerous. In addition, even though Oakland's City Council voted against importing an estimated 10 million tons of coal per year, Brown refuses to oppose these efforts, which the investors are now appealing. The coal trains will impose substantial health hazards on those who live in west Oakland. The governor who complains about the long term risks of climate change nevertheless doesn't care about the destructive health impact the coal will have, particularly on children. . 

But although Brown and many other politicians are profiting from the advantage of criticizing Trump for pulling out of the Paris agreement, that does not adequately explain why many politicians support the climate agreement. It is important to take a closer look at the Paris agreement itself.  

630 businesses and investors signed a statement urging Trump to support the agreement. Exxon Mobil and Shell Oil are among them. Exxon Mobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil and gas company urged the White House to support the Paris agreement. It told the administration that "The Paris agreement is an effective framework for addressing the risks of climate change" Also, Shell Oil, another oil and gas giant, supports the Paris agreement because it "wants to do our part providing more and cleaner energy." 

But the record of these companies shows that their words speak louder than their actions. The fossil fuel industry has a history of lobbying against climate related actions. How do we explain their change of minds? They now support the treaty for the same reason that Nicaragua opposed it -- they realize that the agreement is toothless. There is no mechanism whatever to require a country to set a target by a specific date. To repeat, the accord provides no adverse consequences if countries do not meet their commitments. James Hansen, a former NASA scientist and expert in climate change angrily complained that "the agreement consists of promises or aims and not firm commitments". Really, the accord does not require any nation to do anything significant. 

Still, isn't the accord at least a good beginning? It could be if it tackles our many current environmental problems right now. For it is now that the future begins. But that won't happen without a mass movement. Only a mass movement can successfully confront our opponents because of the tremendous resources they have available. Moreover those who are involved in addressing our day to day quality of life issues are much less likely to be fooled. They quickly learn who are our real allies and who are only pretending to be.  

Clearly, despite the media propaganda, Governor Brown's conduct on current issues, for example, reveals he is not one of us. So we shouldn't be fooled by his support for the Paris Climate agreement. Finally, we must do what we can to make sure that pie in the sky agreements do not lull us and others into passivity. On the contrary, these are wakeup calls that should mobilize us into action.