On Tuesday, Governor Brown met with the Chinese President Xi Jing-Ping in Beijing.
Just as President Trump plans to pull out of the Paris Accord, Governor Brown is stepping in to fill the void.
The biggest economy in the U.S. and the second biggest GDP in the world signed an agreement to work together on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
What does this mean for green tech going forward?
Host A Martinez sits down with Matthew Kahn, professor of environmental economics at University of Southern California and co-author of the book Blue Skies over Beijing: Economic Growth and the Environment in China.
Interview Highlights
Green Products from China
Governor Brown has successfully signaled to China that California and other progressive states are going to continue to demand green products that China might supply. With President Trump dropping out of the Paris Accord, there might have been uncertainty in China in terms of their paths forward. But Governor Brown has confirmed the demand will still be there.
Cap-and-trade
California has launched the "cap-and-trade" program to reduce its greenhouse gas emission. China, with its air pollution problems, has been very interested California's efforts to show green economy can be good economic policies as well as good environmental moves.
California's Signal to the White House
The progressive states will continue with the climate change mitigation. Trump will only be our president for three to seven more years. I think there's an expectation in this country that we will be more active in addressing the climate change challenge. If California and China can make green products cheaper and more high quality, the people of Texas will buy them. Brown's effort is making future presidents more likely to abide by future Paris Accords.