West Coast States to Fight Climate Change Even If Trump Does Not

The governors of the three U.S. West Coast states on Tuesday vowed to step up their efforts to fight climate change in the face of the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has dismissed global warming as a hoax.

Democratic governors Jerry Brown of California, Jay Inslee of Washington and Katherine Brown of Oregon made stark warnings that climate change was already harming the Pacific Ocean along which their states lie.

"Our waters are at mortal risk," said Inslee, speaking via video-conference at a meeting of the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification, in advance of the winter meeting of the Western Governors Association in Coronado near San Diego.

The three governors said they had joined the alliance, a group of U.S. states and countries including Chile and France dedicated to reducing rising acidity in the oceans, a phenomenon tied to climate change that threatens fish, coral reefs and other marine life.

Jerry Brown also said that he had sent a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, asking him to make permanent a recent five-year-ban on oil drilling off the coast of the most populous U.S. state.

The actions marked the latest in a series of moves by Democrats, led by California, to position themselves to fight efforts by Trump to undo progressive policies on the environment, immigration, healthcare and other issues.

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