Newsom pushes climate record abroad as Californians shoulder America’s highest gas costs
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is in the midst of touting his state's leadership on energy policies while in Brazil for a United Nations climate conference, while Golden State residents pay...
By Fox News · Fox News
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is in the midst of touting his state's leadership on energy policies while in Brazil for a United Nations climate conference, while Golden State residents pay the highest gas prices in the nation that are largely attributable to state regulations. "While climate change may not resonate, I think affordability matters," Newsom said in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle earlier in November ahead of his trip to Brazil. "When you talk about energy efficiency, you’re talking about saving money." Newsom joined the COP30 summit, which is an annual U.N. climate meeting, in Belém, Brazil. Typically, federal U.S. officials attend the summit, but the administration skipped the event as President Donald Trump rails against climate change as "the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world." NEWSOM VOWS TO BLOCK TRUMP’S REPORTED ENERGY PLAN IN CALIFORNIA, EXPERTS PUSH BACK "Absolutely," Newsom said Wednesday when asked if California was standing in for the U.S. at the summit, the Los Angeles Times reported. "And I think the world sees us in that light, as a stable partner, a historic partner … in the absence of American leadership. And not just absence of leadership, the doubling down of stupid in terms of global leadership on clean energy." The governor's office touted amid the trip that "Greenhouse gas emissions in California are down 21% since 2000 — even as the state’s GDP increased 81% in that same time period," and that "the state was powered by two-thirds clean energy" in 2023. California currently has the highest average gas prices in the nation, data shows. The Golden State has long had notoriously high gas prices, and 2025 is no different. California currently has the highest average gas prices in the nation, at an average of $4.67 per gallon, followed by a list of other states, including Hawaii, Washington, Nevada and Oregon. Holiday travel is about to hit a fever pitch across the country as the aviation industry gets back on…