Gov. Brown calls out Pres. Trump on climate change at global climate summit

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California Gov. Jerry Brown started his global climate summit on Sept. 20 by saying Pres. Donald Trump will likely be remembered as a liar and a fool when it comes to the environment.

Brown, a Democrat, and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke at a news conference on the first full day of the San Francisco summit that is partly a rebuke of the Trump administration.

“I think he’ll be remembered, on the path he’s now? I don’t know. Liar, criminal, fool,” Brown said.

The leaders said in an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times that thousands of cities, states and other groups remain committed to reducing global warming without Trump’s support.

Trump announced last year he was withdrawing from the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord. His administration is also pursuing policies that would boost methane emissions and roll back California’s strict vehicle emissions standards.

Bloomberg and Brown said they calculate the country is within striking distance of the reduction in greenhouse gases previously promised by the U.S.

Asked about the hundreds of protesters outside the conference claiming the Brown could do more in California, the governor reiterated his ambitious goals for battling greenhouse gas emissions at all levels.

The summit comes as the Carolinas along the eastern U.S. seaboard prepares for Hurricane Florence and 2018 is on pace to be the fourth hottest year on record globally. The eight warmest years in more than a century of record keeping have all been in the past 13 years.