Sacramento, Calif. – June 1, 2017: Capital Public Radio's State Government Reporter Ben Bradford is crossing the globe to follow the story of California’s role in the international climate change conversation. For the next week, he’ll travel throughout China covering Governor Jerry Brown's climate delegation as they engage in talks and attend an international clean-energy summit.
This trip is just one piece of CapRadio’s commitment to putting our audience first – sending experienced reporters wherever the story is happening, to offer coverage in context on issues that matter for California, the nation and the world.
Bradford, who has covered Gov. Brown's climate change work
in depth, says the trip is a unique opportunity to see first-hand the governor’s efforts to move policy forward, whether or not the U.S. as a whole participates.
"California's trying to take on this global role, and it's a role that's being vacated by the federal government," Bradford says, adding that Brown sees climate change as the single most important issue of our time.
The idea behind Brown’s work, Bradford says, is that if California is the first to adopt policies to address climate change, and can inspire China and others to follow suit, it can have a global impact.
As part of the trip, Bradford will travel with the delegation to Beijing for the Clean Energy Ministerial, an annual international meeting of energy and environment heads from the world’s largest nations -- including U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry.
Bradford will be the only reporter making the trip who regularly covers Gov. Brown as part of the Capitol press corps. "He's perfectly positioned to bring depth and context to the governor's trip beyond simple handshakes and photo ops, having just taken a deep look at the opportunities and challenges facing Brown's signature climate program a few weeks ago," says CapRadio's Capitol Bureau Chief Ben Adler.
Ahead of his trip, Bradford spoke with Gov. Brown about California’s climate initiatives and his goals in China. Highlights from that interview can be heard
here. Bradford also
joined Insight Thursday to discuss what’s in store for the week.
