There's a major, annual climate change conference going on in Belém, Brazil - COP30, the Conference of the Parties. Almost all of the world has sent governmental representatives there to address the biggest environmental problem the planet faces - Climate Change.
Photo credit: By United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - https://cop30.br/en, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=177710910
But, where are the federal government representatives from the United States? Probably back home pushing President Trump's nonsense that climate change is a hoax.
However, Governor Gavin Newsome of California is there. Newsome, whose state represents the 4th largest economy in the world, is incredulous that no one from USEPA or any other branch of the federal government is attending. As Governor of California, he has overseen perhaps the strongest set of environmental regulations and policies of ANY of the 50 U.S. states and has worked with other states and countries to address these problems for years now.
But, as to the current administration's failure to acknowledge the problem by ignoring COP30, he had this to say:
"What the hell is going on?"
"We're in Brazil, one of our great trading partners, one of the world's great democracies. I mean, hell, home to all the rare earth metals we need. This is the country we should be engaging with instead of giving the middle finger with 50% tariffs."
What do you think? How big of a problem is it that no federal representatives from the United States are there? How much longer can the U.S. continue to bury its head in the sand and ignore this problem?
