At a recent climate conference in Brazil, the Governor of California Gavin Newsom insisted that “The United States of America is as dumb as we want to be on this topic [of climate change], but the state of California is not,” Newsom said. “We are going to assert ourselves, we’re going to lean in, and we are going to compete in this space.”

Let’s review the facts and see who is really doubling down on dumb. 

California boasts that it would have the world’s fifth-largest economy if it could split off from the U.S. That seems impressive. In reality, it’s less than meets the eye.

            California’s economy is large specifically because it is part—a subordinate part—of the greater United States. That means it has far fewer financial obligations than any national government does. California doesn’t need to fund a military. It doesn’t have to fund Social Security. It doesn’t have to fund Medicare. It gets billions from Washington to cover all sorts of programs that it wants to provide but doesn’t need to pay for.

            Even without those obligations, California is slowing itself down. We’ve seen this in the statistics. The state used to brag it was the world’s fourth-largest economy, but has since slid to fifth. California’s economy shows signs of contracting further, and that’s because of policies enacted by Gov. Gavin Newsom and members of his Democratic party, which has a supermajority in the state legislature.

            Over the years, these leaders enacted excessive regulations that are holding the state back. “The California Code of Regulations (CCR) contains 420,434 restrictions and 23,110,146 words as of 2023, making the Golden State the 1st most regulated state in the nation,” the Mercatus Center reported last year. “The weight of these layers of regulation worsens economic conditions, inadvertently increasing poverty rates, destroying jobs, and raising prices.”

            Not only is that dumb, it defies the Democrats affordability agenda.

            High energy prices are crushing California’s economy, and these prices are mostly self-imposed. The average price of gasoline, for example, is more than $4.50 per gallon in California and only $2.99 nationwide (which is even higher than the rest of the country because it includes California’s high numbers).

“Several factors contribute to this high price, including state taxes and fees, environmental requirements, special fuel requirements, and isolated petroleum markets,” the U.S. Energy Information Administration wrote this year. Californians also pay 90 cents in state gas taxes, while the average across the 50 states is 28 cents.

Newsome also told the conference that “I do not want the United States of America to be a footnote on climate policy.” Lucky for him, we are the world leader in emissions reduction.

The Energy Department writes that, “according to the U.S. government’s most recent official projections, net U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are expected to decline 29-46% by 2030, 36-57% by 2035, and 34-64% by 2040, compared with 2005 levels.” 

How does that compare to, say, China, which often positions itself as a champion of green energy? “China’s emissions are projected to plateau at current high levels until around 2030, followed by a modest annual decline averaging 2% through 2035, reaching 10% below peak emissions in 2035,” the Climate Action Tracker writes. It called China’s actions “Highly Insufficient.”

So who is really doubling down on dumb, and what would be the smartest approach? 

The smartest approach for dealing with climate change is a free-market, energy abundant approach. History and data prove time and time again that freer economies are twice as clean as unfree economies. Not only are people freer and happier, but environments and people are able to flourish. 

Ironically, California under Governor Newsom stands to benefit from the Trump Administration’s smart climate policies that promote energy abundance, affordability and reliability. Yet, Governor Newsom would tell the world otherwise. 

Doubling down on dumb would be to believe Newsom.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.