The climate cooperation agreement that was solidified last week between Gov. Gavin Newsom and the prime minister of New Zealand is nothing more than a gesture, according to a retired California State University (CSU)-Fullerton economics professor.
“The nice thing about being in politics is you get to meet a lot of interesting people and go to a lot of interesting places regardless of the quality of the governing you're doing,” said Robert Michaels, who served as a consultant to the treasury of New Zealand when the country was deregulating their electrical system.
While leading a trade mission to the U.S. last week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stopped in California to appear at a press conference with Newsom where they jointly announced the partnership they signed, which will focus on environmental issues.
“What are you going to do with these tiny islands that have a population of about 5 million located somewhere on the Tropic of Capricorn 4,000 miles west of California?” Michaels said about Newsom’s partnership with New Zealand.
During their meeting, Newsom and Ardern reportedly discussed ways in which the state and the country can work together on combating climate change.
“The biggest challenge here in California obviously is that of transportation,” Ardern said. “It is our next frontier. We are looking for how can we progress and lift the number of electrical vehicles we are able to access and there are policy areas where we are keen to share data information and ideas.”
California became the first U.S. state to require that all car sales be alternative fuel vehicles by 2035.
As previously reported, under an executive order signed by Newsom in 2020, cars with internal combustion engines will be phased out within 15 years.
“The challenge though, as the prime minister said in her remarks, is supply chain issues,” Newsom said. “There is so much we need to do to be cognizant of resources, particularly from a global perspective as we are competing. That's why we're mining for resources in the Southern part of this state. Lithium Valley has one of the largest deposits of lithium anywhere in the world. Some have referred to it as the Saudi Arabia of lithium.”
An $80 million allocation was approved by the California legislature this week to support development in Lithium Valley by including a science and technology campus at San Diego State University’s Brawley Center in Imperial County.
“Don’t we have enough lobbyists and attempts to produce electric vehicles and people trying to actually figure out how to make money off of electric vehicles,” Michaels added. “Why is it that people can't make money off electric vehicles and what is it that a government stepping in to solve the problem can possibly do?”