Gavin Newsom on the next governor

Frankly, I was disappointed when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom dropped out of the gubernatorial race. When he kicked off his campaign, he put a great amount of emphasis on California leading the way in building a new sustainable economy. It turns out that the environment has become a key campaign issue regardless of the lack of a primary contest on the Democratic side. (See our past posts about Jerry Brown saying that support for AB 32 is the biggest difference between him and Meg Whitman, and Whitman responding by labeling herself as an environmentalist, while simultaneously calling for "balance" -- a neat rhetorical trick.)

That aside, at our recent Environmental Leadership Awards gala held in his city, Mayor Newsom was kind enough to share his vision of what a greener governor would do.

He believes that, in order for the next governor to create a "sustainable economic renaissance," that person must at the very least implement AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act. In fact, Mayor Newsom considers it a modest goal! He states that the city of San Francisco was already able to roll back its carbon emissions to 7% below 1990 levels by 2008 (recently independently certified) and that the city's target is to get carbon emissions to 20% below 1990 levels by 2012.

I can understand, then, why he's not particularly impressed by the ambition of AB 32, which requires California to reduce carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020; he considers it "a floor of opportunity... to completely engage a new kind of economic development & growth and workforce training." The stakes are high: his vision for California is that we lead the way not just for our "state's economic future, but for this country's economic fate and future, and for the world in terms of its global framework."

I'm looking forward to his having the opportunity to work on these issues at the state level if he is successful in his (CLCV-endorsed) campaign for Lieutenant Governor.

Jason Gohlke is Communications Manager for the California League of Conservation Voters.