California showed up at COP30; now the US has to catch up – A greener life, a greener world

By Guido Núñez-Mujica

The United States was missing in action at COP30, but California showed up big.

My state is showing that a large and diversified economy can grow while bringing down climate emissions if it gets serious about clean, reliable energy and accountability, using the right policies, and a pragmatic, any-technology-as-long-as-it’s-low-carbon approach.

At the Belém climate summit, our Governor Gavin Newsom fist-bumped me on his way to delivering something rare in American climate politics: moral clarity supported by real numbers. Newsom opened by acknowledging what many around the world already recognise: the current US administration is a climate deadbeat. Newsom called this an abomination and a disgrace.

Most politicians would stop at criticism. Newsom went farther. He said California will fill as much of that vacuum as it can. As someone who works in data-driven energy modeling every day, I believe the substance of that message matters much more than the rhetoric.

What California actually demonstrated

Newsom reminded COP delegates that two-thirds of California’s electricity now comes from clean sources. On nine out of ten days this year, the grid reached moments of 100 percent clean electricity. California pioneered cap-and-invest mechanisms that the rest of the United States still struggles to adopt.

These achievements are the result of multi-decade decisions spanning both Republican and Democratic governors. California combined environmental ambition with large-scale clean energy procurement and regulatory discipline.

Newsom also reminded the audience that California’s environmental foundations were laid by Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. Because there’s nothing inherently partisan about climate action, or wanting to breathe clean air. The humid, hot air inside the venue, covering everyone in sweat, was a reminder of what’s to come if we do not figure this out.

The data that the Governor did not mention

California’s clean energy story is real, but we’re not finished. Big challenges remain: Electricity demand from AI growth is accelerating faster than forecasts. Wildfire-driven insurance withdrawals are becoming a serious economic threat. Even with large solar deployments, the state still depends on imported (largely fossil) power during peak evening hours. And despite Newsom’s positive comments about advanced nuclear and fusion, the state still has an outdated moratorium on new nuclear power.

Newsom is right to point out that climate risk has become financial risk. Energy scarcity is part of the same equation. When journalist James Fahn asked about AI companies driving electricity demand while also spreading disinformation, Newsom referenced California’s efforts to regulate AI safety and transparency.

But regulating AI content addresses only part of the problem. The rest is physical. AI needs enormous amounts of electricity. Without firm, low-carbon power, California and the United States will struggle to meet new demand without resorting to fossil fuels. And Newsom knows this, that’s why he was key in saving California’s last nuclear power plant, and the reason why I got a fist bump and a smile when I congratulated him for doing the right thing and helping to save Diablo.

The missing ingredient: Firm, clean power

 This is where our AWOL federal government is creating the biggest problems. States can’t build interstate transmission lines on their own. They can’t reform federal financing terms or reshape national tax incentives.

California’s solar and wind achievements are impressive. Yet the grid models my team runs repeatedly show the same outcome: Without firm and clean electricity such as nuclear, geothermal, or long-duration storage, the math doesn’t work.

Even China, which Newsom praised for the scale and speed of its solar roll-out, demonstrates that it won’t work on its own. China is building firm clean power, especially nuclear, because it recognises what the US is still debating: that decarbonization requires clean energy that is available every hour of the day, not just during sunny afternoons.

If the US wants to compete with China economically, technologically, and morally, we must close the gap in firm clean capacity. Otherwise, America’s AI sector, manufacturing base, and climate credibility will all be constrained by physics rather than politics.

The US can still lead if It chooses to

 Newsom said he came to COP30 so the United States would not be a footnote at the world’s most important climate conference. A speech alone is not leadership. Real action is leadership. Deployment is leadership. And policy that survives changes in the political cycle, that’s real leadership.

Leadership today calls for confronting the uncomfortable reality that the US clean energy system is not scaling fast enough to meet either its climate goals or its economic ambitions.

California is doing more than any other United States state. It has the imagination that Newsom spoke about. It has the innovation ecosystem. It has regulatory tools. It does not yet have the firm, clean backbone needed to support rapidly growing demand, especially from AI companies headquartered within its borders.

That will require federal action, stable policy environments, and a willingness to place nuclear, geothermal, and advanced storage at the center of the clean energy strategy rather than at the margins.

What remains is the political courage to match California’s ambition with federal commitment and to build a clean energy system capable of powering not only climate goals but also the AI-driven economy of the coming century.

California showed up at COP30. Now the US needs to show up for California and for the world.

Guido Núñez-Mujica is Director of Data Science at the Anthropocene Institute. He is a climate activist and science communicator with 25 years of experience.