Terra Verde

California vs. Trump 2.0

Protesters holding banners and protest signs at an anti-Trump rally in Los Angeles in 2016, when he was first elected president.
An anti-Trump protest in Los Angeles in 2016, when he was first elected president. California is expected to be the special focus of the president-elect’s ire. Photo by Ken Shin.

In California — a state whose progressive environmental policies have been the special focus of Trump’s ire — policymakers and environmentalists are bracing for the impacts of a second Trump administration where Republicans have full control of both houses. Lawmakers are gearing up to use state and local government powers to safeguard the environment and communities from imminent destructive federal policies. And on the ground, community groups and activists are preparing to organize.

To give us a sense of the efforts underway in the state to “Trump Proof” California, Earth Island Journal editor-in-chief and Terra Verde cohost Maureen Nandini Mitra talks with Ken Alex, director of Project Climate and former senior policy advisor on climate, environment, and energy to Governor Jerry Brown.