Gavin Newsom really doesn't care about climate change. I can prove that.
Despite his rhetoric, Newsom is loudly supporting a massive, state-funded project that sends millions of tons of carbon footprint into the atmosphere. Of course I'm mentioning the giant boondoggle known as High speed rails in California – It's a very troublesome project It caught President Trump's attention.
To date, more $11 billion It has been spent developing the train, starting at $3.4 billion. Carbon fees It is generated by the state. The segment under construction is 171 miles Pass through Central Valley. That means thousands of tons of steel and millions of tons of cement. 1.4 tons Carbon dioxide per tonne of steel 0.88 tons Around a tonne of concrete.
That's not the end of the carbon collision in the project. Wiring, plastics, earth-moving equipment, and delivery will further increase your carbon budget.
All this is for projects that don't complete. The current forecast cost is $135 billion, There is no identified source close to the funds needed to complete it (not to mention that prices continue to rise). The segment under construction is The easiest stretch. The line still has to pass through the mountains north and south. The longest tunnel In the United States, if constructed, it crosses aggressive earthquake damage.
Newsom's California Air Resources Commission has been committed twenty five% of revenues to California's high-speed rail. That money from the carbon permit auction is intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that have so far cost $3.4 billion on rail projects.
Here is Newsom's dishonestness. Instead of pouring billions of dollars into the bottomless pits of high-speed rail, $3.4 billion could have gone to actual greenhouse emissions reductions that would also be useful for middle-income and low-income Californians.
For example, climate change warriors are targeted A scary gas stove For extinction. Old stove leaks methane Nitrous oxide (300 times stronger than carbon dioxide). Newsom and California Air Resources Board can replace 2 million of these malicious monsters Less than $1.4 billion.
Old window air conditioners, energy, inefficient leaking powerful hydrofluorocarbons can be replaced by modern Energy Star Unit. Replacing 3 million of these units would cost up to $1.8 billion. This is $3.2 billion because much more efficient appliances release far fewer greenhouse emissions and are less expensive to operate, bringing economic benefits to low-income and middle-income households. And it's paying the full retail price. Asking consumers to plow their cash a little can dramatically expand the program.
But if California is determined to do something about railroads, there are already passenger rail projects that are the best investment: Existing railway routes From San Diego to Santa Barbara via Los Angeles.
The route is a single-track diesel route, sometimes full of grade intersections, and slowly becomes a contaminated train. Double-operated, electrified, graded, isolated upgraded rail lines efficiently serve more than 10 million people in one of the most auto-aligned regions in the country. And it does not require tunnels or large-scale land purchases. The expected improvements to the hallway may have been completed less than So far, it has been spent on high-speed lines that are nowhere to go now.
But the problem is that upgrading existing infrastructure is relatively boring compared to brand new white elephants.
Like the rest of the loud California climate change crowd, Newsom is not interested in actually helping people or truly reducing greenhouse emissions. They want a big shiny project with large contracts, news articles, photo manipulation and dramatic drone videos. Though 3 million air conditioners get a short moment in the sun, the incredible megaproject is a gift that keeps giving (and takes).
That's the true priority of lewd newspapers: popularity and power.
The Southern California wildfires in January led Newsom's preference for sacred gear and publicity to go dark. You are completely uninterested in blunt and inconspicuous preventive behavior – controlled burns, fire destruction, electric lines burials, new fire resistant homes can replace old fire bins. Ready for a catastrophic wildfireregardless of the extent of climate change.
Newsom isn't a complete obstacle, but the rest of his political establishment in California deserves a solid part of the billion-dollar catastrophe and its responsibility 4.4 million tons Carbon dioxide emissions. Of course, Newsom is not responsible at all. He cast it to oil companies, insurance companies and others who are not moving in Rockstep with his ideology.
The bottom line is simple. In the event of a climate emergency, individuals, governments, nonprofits and businesses should do everything they can now to reduce emissions. Maybe newer air conditioners will reduce emissions by a small amount or perhaps switching from diesel fuel to natural gas is not perfect, but in emergencies they will do what you can with what you have.
For politicians like Newsom, his words and vigilance refer to a climate emergency, but his actions say it's a major scam.
Keith NortonHe is a co-founder of Silent Majority Strategy, a public and regulatory business consulting firm, and a former political campaign consultant in Pennsylvania.
