California governor vows to resist withdrawal from Paris agreement

Governor Jerry Brown of US' California state vowed on Thursday to resist President Donald Trump's withdrawal from Paris agreement on climate change.

"California will resist this misguided and insane course of action," Xinhua quoted Brown as saying.

"Trump is AWOL but California is on the field, ready for battle," Brown added.

AWOL stands for Absent Without Official Leave, a term in the US military, meaning away from military duties without permission.

Currently the sixth-largest economy in the world, California has advanced its nation-leading climate goals while also growing the economy, Brown noted.

He added that in the last seven years, California has created 2.3 million new jobs, outpacing most of the US, cut its unemployment rate in half, eliminated a $27 billion budget deficit and has seen its credit rating rise to the highest in more than a decade.

"Donald Trump has absolutely chosen the wrong course. He's wrong on the facts. America's economy is boosted by following the Paris Agreement. He's wrong on the science. Totally wrong," said Brown.

Brown has been working to broaden collaboration among subnational leaders, under what is known as the Under2 MOU, a memorandum of understanding signed or endorsed by 170 jurisdictions around the world to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius by the end of this century.

Representing 33 countries and six continents, the Under2 Coalition claims to represent more than 1.18 billion people and $27.5 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP), equivalent to 16 per cent of the global population and 37 per cent of the global economy.

Brown is scheduled to start on Friday a travel to China to strengthen the Golden state's climate, clean energy and economic ties with the nation.

--IANS

qd/