Newsom wins $1 billion new clean energy deal with the UK: Trump spirals, calls Gavin a "loser"
Newsom signs clean energy deal with the UK
As Trump’s foreign policy founders on the rocks of his arrogant ignorance, the man in charge of the world’s fourth or fifth-largest economy (it depend how you measure) has signed a productive new alternative energy deal with the UK. On Monday, Gavin Newsom’s office announced: Governor Newsom launches UK climate partnership, welcomes nearly $1 billion Octopus Energy clean tech commitment.
Well done, Gavin. It’s good to hear that some politicians are working hard to improve their constituents’ lives. That’s what chief executives are supposed to do.
Trump acts like the scorpion
Trump, predictably, didn’t take the news with grace or aplomb. In an interview with Politico, he snarled:
“The U.K.’s got enough trouble without getting involved with Gavin Newscum. Gavin is a loser. Everything he’s touched turns to garbage. His state has gone to hell, and his environmental work is a disaster.”
Once again, an accusation is a self-admission: “loser,” “garbage,” “disaster.” Is there any evidence that these words do not better describe Trump? Let’s start with popularity. Newsom’s current approval rating is at 56% and rising. Trump is mired at 40%.
Trump added that it was “inappropriate” for Newsom to strike such agreements and “inappropriate for them to be dealing with him.” Why? Foreign policy may be the President’s prerogative. And Congress has the power to set tariffs (SCOTUS will ‘soon’ confirm or deny that). But, generally, the states and their constituents can conduct international commerce as they see fit.
Even Trump has tacitly acknowledged that. A spokesperson for the British Embassy in DC, commenting on the deal. said:
“We continue to work closely with the US government on a range of issues, including ushering in a golden age of nuclear through the landmark nuclear partnership we signed during the State Visit last year. Today’s energy MoU [memorandum of understanding] is just one in a series signed at state level, including Florida and Texas, that will deliver jobs and growth in the UK.”
Trump didn’t call the Florida and Texas deals “inappropriate.” Because he is not driven by consistent across-the-board standards. Or by the value it brings to a state and, by extension, the country. Instead, the merits of individual cases are determined by how he feels about the principals involved.
Trump confirmed this was a hormonal reaction rather than an intellectual analysis by launching into the salvo of boilerplate invective reported above.
Trump had more. Politico reports:
“People are leaving,” Trump said of California. “The worst thing that the U.K. can do is get involved in Gavin. If they did to the U.K. what he did to California, this will not be a very successful venture.”
He also criticized the governor for what he described as failed infrastructure projects, citing California’s long-delayed high-speed rail project. “How has he done with the railroad?” Trump said. “How has he done with the various things he’s building?”
The truth about California
Let’s add some context. I’ll play fair. California is seeing people leave. The state also has high taxes. And the high-speed rail line has been bogged down by land purchase difficulties, court cases, and NIMBY opposition. Nevertheless, it is a big, bold, and ambitious project. The sort of public works initiative that has made America great. (See the Erie Canal, the transcontinental railroad, and the interstate highway system.)
Trump also ignores that California’s per capita GDP is 28% higher than the national average. And it is higher than in any red state. This higher per capita GDP translates into higher per capita incomes. And this higher pay more than absorbs the higher taxes. Even though Texas has no state income tax, California’s average take-home pay is still 16% greater.
As for garbage and a disastrous environment, it would take a deluded zealot to claim that Texas and Florida’s ecological record is better than that of California. Part of the MAGA philosophy, as evidenced by executive fiat, anti-environmental legislation, and hampering the EPA, is a push to make pollution great again.
There are winners
This brouhaha illustrates that while Trump is lurching from failure to failure under the unsupported rubric that he is making America great again, there are American politicians who are actually keeping America great without endless, repetitive vituperation. (Can the guy please get some new material?)