Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and her three West Coast colleagues reflected during a conference this week on how they are coping with the reality of climate change and what they are doing to reduce the greenhouse gases that are intensifying heat waves, rain and ice storms, wildfires and floods.
Hawaii Gov. David Ige has called for global emission reduction goals that aspire beyond "net-zero," as island communities continue to bear the disproportionate effects of climate change.
Under orders from Gov. Kate Brown, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality developed a new set of rules that would cap greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels and reduce them over time.
As California's biggest wildfire destroyed multiple homes, its flames racing through rugged terrain, and as numerous other blazes battered the American west, the governor of Oregon said the climate crisis was "like a hammer hitting us in the head".
Governor Kate Brown warned that events like the Pacific Northwest heat wave could be a "harbinger of things to come" if politicians do not urgently confront the issue of climate change.
