California governor calls Trump ‘an invasive species’ at Cop30 climate talks | Cop30

California Governor Gavin Newsom declared Donald Trump an “invasive species” whose dismissal of the climate crisis was an “abomination”, in a fiery attack on the UN climate negotiations in Brazil – from which Trump and his administration have been completely absent.

Newsom is the top US politician present at the Cop30 summit in Belém, after Trump took the unprecedented step of not sending a delegation to the talks. Newsom sought to fill the notable void in U.S. official activity by lambasting the president for destroying climate policies and pushing to burn more fossil fuels that have caused dangerous global warming.

On Tuesday, it emerged that Trump had drawn up plans to open the California coast to oil and gas drilling, a move that Newsom said would happen “over my dead body, period. He said he wanted to open the California coast, but he didn’t want oil drilling rigs off the coast of Florida, not across from Mar-a-Lago. He’s keeping quiet about that. But that’s not going to happen. He’s dead on arrival.”

Accusing Trump of an attack on climate and democracy, Newsom said of the president: “He’s an invasive species, he’s a wrecking ball president. He’s trying to roll back the progress of the last century. He’s trying to recreate the 19th century. He’s doubling down on stupid efforts.”

Trump has called the climate crisis a “fraud” and urged countries to stick to coal, oil and gas, and even abandon their climate policies if necessary in order to buy more American fossil fuels.

The Republican president has refused to send representatives to Cop30, where countries are debating new targets for reducing emissions and climate finance.

Newsom said Trump’s rollback of climate policies and the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate accord was “an abomination, it’s a shame” and added that it would benefit China, which leads the world in the manufacturing and deployment of clean energy such as solar and wind.

“You know who’s clapping, who’s singing his praises? Chinese President Xi,” Newsom said. “They stand idly by and dominate supply chains, because they understand the enormous opportunity that clean energy offers. »

Newsom, a Democrat who became governor of California in 2019, is leading an alternative U.S. delegation to Cop30 that includes more than 100 elected officials who emphasize that U.S. subnational jurisdictions are still committed to tackling the climate crisis.

Newsom is one of 24 governors who are part of the U.S. Climate Alliance, a group of states that represents more than half the U.S. population and has declared support for climate action.

This diverse group, however, did not ignore the shocking absence of the US government in Belém, and other figures present at the negotiations expressed relief that the Trump administration was not there.

Christiana Figueres, former executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said Tuesday that the United States’ absence from the negotiations “is actually a good thing.”

“Ciao, bambino,” was his response to the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris agreement.

At a press rally, Newsom said: “That’s a heck of a statement coming from the mother of the Paris agreement. » In light of the Trump administration’s behavior at an international maritime meeting last month, where officials threatened some foreign leaders and threatened to impose tariffs on those who supported a carbon tax on shipping, the U.S. presence could pose a threat, Newsom added.

Trump’s absence “creates an opportunity” for local leaders to get involved in climate policy, Newsom said.

“What stands in the way becomes the way. This is an opportunity for us, at the local level, to assert ourselves,” he said. “He walked away. That’s why I stopped.”

Newsom is considered a leading contender for the Democratic nomination for president in 2028. While saying he wouldn’t question whether to run, he stressed that Democrats need to reframe the debate around the climate crisis, to focus on simple messages about the cost of living and the problems American households face getting insurance due to repeated climate-driven disasters.

Joe Biden has tried to sell his climate policies as good for jobs and the economy, a narrative that has failed to resonate with voters. Biden then abandoned his tough re-election campaign, with Kamala Harris losing to Trump.

“Climate change can seem abstract,” he said. “We need to speak in terms that people understand. It’s about people, places, lifestyles and traditions. If we put things in those terms, we can start to convince people.”