Photographs by Kayla Bartkowski / Getty, Bill Pugliano / Stringer, Soly Moses / Pexels, Skler Sion / Pexels
words by miranda green
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has had no problem basking in the limelight at the ongoing international climate talks in Brazil.
Escorted around the venue by security, Newsom is the highest-ranking United States official present at the two-week-long 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Newsom has been embraced by attendees as something like a rock star, one COP-goer told me.
At a panel last week, he called President Trump a “wrecking ball” and likened him to “an invasive species.” He picked fights with the administration directly, warning that California would open new offshore drilling (something the White House proposed) over its “dead body.” The White House responded, telling “Newscum and other countries to drop the climate facade.”
Where President Trump abandoned climate commitments, Newsom is working to fill the gap.
His attendance at an international conference geared toward rulers, presidents, and kings—not state leaders—is a strong nod at his future presidential ambitions. Newsom has used his time there to establish himself on the international stage, exercising soft power by forming climate partnerships between California and Chile, Brazil, and Colombia, and reminding the international community that not everyone in the U.S. has turned a blind eye to global warming.
“It is wild that the United Nations has allowed this level of platform for a subnational actor, because the United Nations is a federal-government-based institution,” Shannon Gibson, a professor of environmental studies, political science, and international relations at the University of Southern California, tells me. “So I think in and of itself, when you look at the operations of the COPS and the U.N. as our highest level of governance–this is unprecedented.”
Officially, Newsom is heading a California delegation of local leaders at COP30. Unofficially, he appears to be trying out for a higher office. His attendance sends a pretty clear message: that the U.S. can lead on renewables and climate commitments, and that Newsom is the man to make it happen.
But not all climate activists are sold. While there’s near-universal agreement in the science community with Newsom’s climate messaging, some have a problem with the messenger.
“[Newsom] is the de facto stalwart against Trump,” said Jean Su, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s energy justice program. But, “the tricky part about this year is that Gavin Newsom is going to be holding himself out as the climate hero, and he actually has had a ton of rollbacks in California against climate.”
How you view Newsom’s climate legacy is intrinsically tied to how you view California’s.
The Golden State for years has adopted and promoted itself as a picture of climate and environmental perfection. It is the home of “happy cows,” the first state to pass a net-zero climate pledge, the birthplace of Tesla, and one of the most democratic states in the nation, with blue majorities across all levels of government.
California is also far from perfect. For every major step forward, the state has taken just as many backward, or to the side.
For example, California is the seventh-largest oil producer in the country. Two of its air districts—one of which includes Los Angeles—are the only in the U.S. that have never met federal ozone standards, largely due to tailpipe emissions. For years the state has resisted forcing big rig trucks to reduce emissions by switching from natural gas to electric (an issue I have reported on). And despite passing a state proposition to fund a high-speed rail project back in 2008, California has yet to lay a single track.
Some of California’s climate efforts have also taken circuitous routes. In 2004, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed a statewide network of hydrogen fueling stations for hydrogen-powered cars, a vision that never materialized. Today, “green” hydrogen is seen as an expensive, high-energy investment risk with limited scientific support due to its heavy energy and water demands.
California also became the first state in 2011 to adopt cap-and-trade—a market system that puts a price on greenhouse gas pollution—but data shows emissions continue to rise.
Newsom’s made great strides since taking the reins in 2019— but there have also been setbacks. He set the world’s first net-zero plan, banned fracking, and moved to end the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035.
But, he also:
● Delayed funding the implementation of a 2022 law that banned new oil operations within 3,200 feet of homes and schools and delayed oilwell leak monitoring to 2030;
● Vetoed a bill that would have required data centers to report real and anticipated water use;
● Vetoed another bill that would have banned cancer-linked PFAS from cookware;
● Attempted to prop up two struggling California oil refineries after they announced closures earlier this year; and
● Signaled that his administration is rethinking the phase-out of gas-powered car sales he once championed.
Despite frustrations with some of his policies, supporters view Newsom’s leadership as one of the best options on the table as the Trump administration fully embraces the fossil-fuel industry.
His star is rising as other Democrats backtrack on their climate commitments. Just last week, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro withdrew from the Northeast’s cap-and-trade program. The same week Zohran Mamdani won his election, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul approved a controversial natural gas pipeline and agreed to keep a gas-fueled cryptocurrency mining operation running for five more years.
“He might be a devil but he’s OUR devil,” one TikTok user posted; others liken Newsom’s actions in California to a toxic ex who does nice things for you, sometimes.
For his part, Newsom is using his own social media accounts to generate viral content and directly attack the Trump administration. His strategy is a far cry from Michelle Obama’s refrain: “When they go low, we go high.”
Gibson of USC told me that it makes sense that he’s taking a different, more direct approach.
“We lost, right? So taking the high road didn’t really win,” she said of the Democratic party. “If you’re on the side of truth, some of the things that he’s saying, this is the truth. These are facts, right? That we are giving up our position as a country. We could easily lead the green energy revolution. We’re just doubling down on coal, which is not the most affordable option anymore.”
Newsom tweeted a photo of Trump on Tuesday with the line, “Quiet, Piggy,”—a not-so-subtle clapback at Trump’s admonishment of a reporter aboard Air Force One after she asked him about Jeffrey Epstein.
And the mano a mano or eye for an eye tactic hasn’t been limited to social media. This fall, he championed Prop50– a state ballot measure that Newsom called a necessary rebuke to Trump’s redistricting efforts in Texas. It proposed reverting California’s districts back to previous outlines, giving the state more safe blue districts and offering Democrats a better chance of winning the House next year.
Some viewed the move as getting down in the dirt with Trump. But it worked: Newsom arrived at COP30 on the tailwinds of Prop50’s victory, having passed in California with nearly 65% of the vote.
Despite his imperfections, many say they are holding out hope that his appearance means he will stand by his promises. One test, they say, is whether he will support—and potentially sign into law—a California bill working its way through the Assembly that would make fossil fuel polluters pay for climate damages.
“He has now pivoted himself from a state governor to a global leader in climate, and I think that is totally part of his political trajectory of where he wants to go next in the national sphere,” said Su of the Center for Biological Diversity. “When you plant your flag in the ground like that, that means that all the commitments and responsibilities have to come with you.”
The California legislature reconvenes January 3, so we’ll soon see whether Newsom’s tune changes when he’s forced to make some difficult decisions around transitioning the state into a renewable future. I’ll be watching.
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Newsom Is the Star of COP30—But His Climate Receipts Are Messy
