Jerry Brown speaks to Congress on cars and climate change

As wildfires exacerbated by climate change displace tens of thousands and leave millions without power across California, the state’s efforts to combat climate change are also at risk. The environment subcommittee of the House committee on Oversight and Reform held a hearing Tuesday on the Trump administration’s decision to revoke a waiver to the Clean Air Act that for five decades has permitted California to impose higher emissions standards for cars than those set by the federal government. Former California governor—and Bulletin executive chair—Jerry Brown appeared as a witness at the hearing. Brown denounced denial of the scientific consensus that climate change is driven by human-caused emissions, and warned that rolling back standards while China and Europe work to achieve independence from fossil fuels will leave the US auto industry behind, undermine the US economy, and threaten global health and security for generations. Here are some highlights from his testimony: