By admin 
As California braces for an impending Super El Niño, Gov. Gavin Newsom once again touted the state’s climate response at a climate summit in New York City.
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Newsom spoke with European Union Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra on Tuesday during New York’s Climate Week, a day after declaring a state of emergency as California braces for one of the strongest storms on record.
The United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization warned that the impending storm — driven by warming ocean temperatures — is projected to be one of the worst in recent years. The El Niño storm of 1997-98 caused more than $550 million in damages statewide and led to 17 deaths in California.
Newsom’s office and the California Air Resources Board published data on Monday touting a 3.9% drop in emissions in 2024 and a 28% decline since 2004, which the agencies likened to removing over 3 million gas-powered cars from state roads for a year. At the same time, the state gross domestic product grew by 3.2%, which Newsom cited in his talk with Hoekstra.
“We’re on the other side of the debate about alternative energy. Alternative energy is the dirtier, more inefficient fossil fuel industry,” Newsom told Hoekstra. “Two thirds of our entire energy mix is clean energy now. I mean, that was unthinkable just a few years ago.”
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Both he and Hoekstra noted that extreme heat poses urgent challenges, as Europe battled historic heatwaves this summer and is the fastest-warming continent in the world.
compared to years past, the Pacific Northwest has battled a historic number of blazes.
Newsom pointed out that California published the U.S.’s first state extreme-heating scoring map, which tracks temperatures by zip code and advises people how to respond.
“We provide the kind of alternative strategies around cooling centers and provide opportunities to reach out to seniors and others that may be more vulnerable to these heat experiences, but it is the most deadly,” Newsom said of extreme heat. “We keep forgetting this of all the climate risks. It’s the most deadly, and we’re finally treating it accordingly. And that’s a pretty sad statement.”
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