Gov. Brown tells environmentalists in SF to ‘live lean and lightly’

People need “to live lean and lightly on the planet,” he said. “They need to think how they live and what’s important,” and that will be a profound shift in the world.

Brown was speaking at the annual ClimateTech conference, a two-day event at the Metreon center, sponsored by the New York Times. The governor spent nearly an hour talking about climate issues with columnist Thomas Friedman and answering questions from the more than 150 people at the dinner.

It’s not always an easy topic to deal with, especially when it comes to persuading people and politicians just how important it is, the governor said.

“I like to say that the end of the world isn’t news,” since it’s not something that lawmakers’ political lives depend on, Brown said. But the changes that must be made are dramatic.

The change is like converting “from pagan Rome to Christian Europe but we don’t have 400 or 500 years,” the governor said. “Instead, we have 20.”

While Brown has long been an evangelist for the need to deal with climate change and the environment, he has taken an even more visible leadership role in the past year, as President Trump has moved to make good on his campaign promises to roll back many long-standing environmental regulations.