Newsom Will Announce New Plans For A Satellite To Track Climate Change

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Publish Date:
September 25, 2019
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Los Angeles Times
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Summary

Former Gov. Jerry Brown famously said last year that California would launch its “own damn satellite” to track climate change in defiance of the Trump administration. On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom will announce a new approach and way to pay for it.

Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable organization founded by climate activist and former New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, pledged to spend an undisclosed sum to help the state use satellite data to track the emission of greenhouse gases. The funding will allow Planet Labs, a San Francisco-based Earth-imaging company, to use its existing satellites and launch new ones to quantify emissions from all over the world and the state’s progress toward its climate goals.

Other countries are watching California’s programs because of the size of the state’s economy and the scope of its ambitions, said Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford University.

“We’re kind of a planetary laboratory for how you have a successful, wealthy state … and cut emissions really dramatically,” Wara said. “What is the model for doing that? It’s something we delivered on somewhat over the last decade, but boy are we going to have to bend the curve.”

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