Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, celebrated the 20-year anniversary of landmark climate legislation he signed while in office alongside Democrats including Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cCalifornia is the perfect example of what can be done when people work together and when we don\u2019t look at this as a Republican or as a Democratic issue,\u201d Schwarzenegger said at an economic conference in Long Beach, noting that Assembly Bill 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act had significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions while creating more than a half a million clean-energy jobs. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the message that is so important for the world,\u201d he said, because the state\u2019s policies have become a model for other states and nations.<\/p>\n
Newsom noted that the state had met \u201caudacious\u201d goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, touting 39,000 megawatts of clean energy that have been installed in the last seven years, 23,000 megawatts of battery storage created<\/a>, and that no flex alert<\/a> has been issued in the state in four years.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we\u2019re not in the goal-setting business; we\u2019re in the how business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He added that the clean energy transition is \u201cthe most critical national security issue in the United States of America,\u201d with economic and supply chain leadership at stake as China surpasses the U.S. in electric vehicles, clean-energy manufacturing and the deployment of renewables.<\/p>\n The state already met the climate change legislation\u2019s ambitious target \u2014 returning emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 \u2014 four years ahead of schedule. However, recent analyses<\/a> indicate California is not on track to meet its future targets of cutting emissions 40% by 2030 and 85% by 2045.<\/p>\n The legislation paved the way for the creation of California\u2019s nation-leading carbon market, cap-and-invest, which launched in 2013. The Legislature extended cap-and-invest\u2019s life to 2045<\/a> last year, and the state is now initiating the process of linking its market with Washington state<\/a>.<\/p>\n The event as well as a luncheon the prior day in Santa Monica were rare displays of bipartisan unity at a time of heightened political polarization in the United States. Schwarzenegger and Newsom piled praise upon each other during the Wednesday afternoon discussion, hugging at the end.<\/p>\n At the luncheon, former Gov. Gray Davis, whom Schwarzenegger ousted from office in the 2003 recall election, as well as billionaire hedge-fund founder turned environmental warrior Tom Steyer, who unsuccessfully ran for governor this year, were among the Democrats in attendance, as well as former state Assembly Speaker Fabien Nunez and former state Sen. Fran Pavley, who were both pivotal in the passage of the climate-change legislation.<\/p>\n In addition to remarks highlighting the foundation of some of the nation\u2019s bedrock environmental policies, such as former GOP President Richard Nixon creating the Environmental Protection Agency and signing the Endangered Species Act, there were moments of levity.<\/p>\n Schwarzenegger said he told fellow Republicans \u201cf\u2014 you\u201d when they balked at him naming Susan Kennedy, a Democrat, as his chief of staff, he said Tuesday. <\/p>\n During a breakout session at the Wednesday conference, he referenced his former wife, Maria Shriver, a scion of the Kennedy family, as he described his desire to hear from people on both sides of the aisle.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I had Democrats in my administration, and of course the Republican Party went nuts,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t care because, to me, I thought I wanted to hear what the Democrats were thinking. Plus, I was sleeping with one every night anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Gov. 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