The Aporia
The Aporia
CA Post Editorial Board. (2026, October 16). Gavin Newsom and Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn’t have looked happier slapping backs — but it’s Californians who suffer. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/15/opinion/gavin-newsom-arnold-schwarzenegger-more-expensive-gas/
CA Post Editorial Board. “Gavin Newsom and Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn’t have looked happier slapping backs — but it’s Californians who suffer.” New York Post, 16 Oct. 2026, https://nypost.com/2026/10/15/opinion/gavin-newsom-arnold-schwarzenegger-more-expensive-gas/.
CA Post Editorial Board. “Gavin Newsom and Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn’t have looked happier slapping backs — but it’s Californians who suffer.” New York Post, October 16, 2026. https://nypost.com/2026/10/15/opinion/gavin-newsom-arnold-schwarzenegger-more-expensive-gas/.
Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.
On October 13-15, Gavin Newsom and former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, both politicians from different parties, celebrated the 20th anniversary of California's Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) at the California Economic Summit in Long Beach. The act aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and introduced a cap-and-trade program to achieve this goal. Despite initial objections from the Bush administration, Schwarzenegger signed AB 32 into law in 2006, stating that it demonstrated bipartisan cooperation.
However, while praising the act's achievements, critics argue that California is now falling behind its next emissions reduction targets and that the policy has increased fuel prices by 5%, or 26 cents per gallon. Some also claim that despite AB 32, California’s wildfires have emitted significant amounts of carbon dioxide, offsetting decades of emissions reductions achieved through such measures. The New York Post editorial board asserts that while Newsom and Schwarzenegger are quick to celebrate the policy's successes, they fail to acknowledge its negative impacts on everyday Californians and its limited effectiveness in addressing global climate issues.
AB 32 has raised the price of fuel in California by 5%, or 26 cents per gallon at current prices. Working Californians suffer most.
Meanwhile, AB 32 has done nothing to help the climate. In fact, California’s wildfires have emitted so much carbon dioxide that they have canceled out decades of emissions reductions through AB 32 and other measures.
California is a negligible factor in global climate anyway, despite its large economy. So AB 32 is a failure.
Cap-and-trade is the ultimate virtue signal. It is a way to look like you are doing something good for the world, even though, at best, you aren’t doing anything at all.
