Gov. Brown Slams Trump As He Calls For Climate Action In NY

California Governor Jerry Brown is in New York this week, during the United Nations General Assembly, to advocate for more action on climate change. Brown is calling for businesses and regional governments to fill a void left by the Trump administration.

On a panel Monday hosted by C-40, an organization of cities against climate change,  Brown argued that pressure from cities, states, businesses and other nations can make President Trump’s rejection of mainstream climate science untenable.

"The world is changing, and that world is more powerful--and I can tell you because I’ve been an executive in a big state for many, many years, we have only limited power," Brown said. "And these other powers are going to gang up on Mr. Trump and he’s going to find out, ‘You’re fired.’"

Brown issued some of his sharpest rhetoric yet against the president.

"Everything he’s doing is completely stupid and dangerous and silly," Brown said, specifically referring to a Sunday morning tweet by the President. "C’mon, calling the North Korean dictator 'Rocket Man?' I mean, that exemplifies such a level of—what? What is it? Is it absurdity? Is it dark humor? Whatever the hell it is."

The governor has spent the past two years assembling an international coalition of regional governments that pledge to reduce emissions. He’s also visited Russia and China, and accepted a UN role as special advisor on climate change. In November, Brown will attend the same UN conference where the Paris climate agreement was struck—this time, in Bonn, Germany.

Brown largely avoided policy prescriptions for curbing global warming. He stressed the importance of Republican political leaders, such as the GOP lawmakers who helped pass an extension of California’s cap-and-trade program.

"The iceberg of denial is cracking, because these were real Republicans. These weren’t kind of moderate," Brown said. "No, we had some people, we had one Republican from Tulare County. And to give you a sense of Tulare County, when I ran for governor, that was my worst state, I got 32 percent of the vote."