He warned a Republican takeover of the U.S. House after this fall’s midterms, coupled with the possibility of the Supreme Court limiting the federal government’s power to regulate green…
WILLIAMS — Former California Gov. Jerry Brown is living off the grid in retirement, but he’s still deeply connected on two issues that captivated him while in office and now are center stage globally: climate change and the threat of nuclear war.
Brown spoke to the AP last week from his home in rural Colusa County, about 60 miles northwest of Sacramento. The land in California’s inner coastal mountain range has been in Brown’s family since the 1860s, when his great-grandfather emigrated from Germany and built a stagecoach stop known as the Mountain House.
“No matter how antagonistic things get, cooperation is still the imperative to deal with climate and nuclear proliferation,” he said. Jerry Brown brings a philosophical approach to life and work, often ready with a Latin phrase or motto to summarize his views. He has long lamented that the buildup of nuclear weapons and climate change fail to capture enough attention in the face of more immediate concerns — these days the coronavirus and inflation.
He hasn’t gone entirely green — he zips around his property on a gas-powered ATV. He’s studying the trees and flowers, determined to learn their names, and in the fall he hosts friends to help harvest olives, which he has pressed into oil.