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California Governor: Leaving Paris Agreement Is an 'Insane Move' Made by a Deviant

"We will not tolerate this kind of deviant behavior from the highest office in the land."

California Governor Jerry Brown called America's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement an "insane move" made by a President who is committing "deviant behavior."

On a call with reporters Thursday, shortly after President Trump announced that the US will officially be withdrawing from the climate accord, Brown vowed to continue fighting climate change and made some of the strongest anti-Trump statements by any sitting, high-profile American politician to date.

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"Trump is wrong when he says it's bad for jobs. It's good for jobs. He's wrong on the future," Brown said. "He's wrong on the science. California will resist, because this effort is misguided. This is an insane move by the president. The world depends on a sustainable future and an aroused citizenry in America who will not tolerate this kind of deviant behavior from the highest office in the land."

Brown has repeatedly said that California will continue to adhere to the Paris Agreement—which was signed by every United Nations country except for Nicaragua and Syria—regardless of what Trump decided to do. He said that "California and America's economy is boosted by the Paris Agreement," and that the state is "all-in" on a renewable energy future.

Brown said his state's economy has been bolstered by adhering to even stricter regulations than those adopted in the Paris Agreement. He's right: California's economy is growing faster than any other state's and would be one of the largest economies in the world if it were an independent nation. From a 2016 Bloomberg story:

California last year created the most jobs of any state, 483,000, more than the second- and third-most-populous states Florida and Texas combined (they added 257,900 and 175,700) and at a faster rate than any of the world's developed economies. The pace of employment growth was almost triple the rate of job creation for the 19 countries that make up the euro zone and more than 3.5 times that of Japan, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

A Department of Energy report from January found that 41 percent of all solar energy jobs and 24 percent of all wind energy jobs are in California.

"We're on the field ready for battle," he said. "While our president may be AWOL in the battle against climate change, we're not."