Newsletter: Jerry Brown welcomes the world’s climate change experts to California

“We in California and in states all across America believe it’s time to act, it’s time to join together and that’s why at this Climate Action Summit we’re going to get it done.”

That was the call to arms last summer Gov. Jerry Brown made as he launched the effort that will draw some 4,000 delegates — many of them the world’s leading climate change experts — to San Francisco this week.

Few topics animate Brown more than global efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions or the refusal by some politicians in this country to join the effort. Expect a good dose of rhetoric on both fronts in his appearances at the three-day Global Climate Action Summit 2018. Brown has been passionately in favor or “subnational governments” like California playing a role and equally passionate in his criticism of President Trump in walking away from the 2015 Paris climate accord.

The governor is one of six co-chairs for the event, alongside international leaders and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The official events begin on Wednesday; I’ll be one of a trio of reporters from The Times covering the action.

You’ll be able to follow our coverage both on the Essential Politics news feed and on our politics home page.

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THE WELL-CONNECTED FRONTRUNNER TO SUCCEED BROWN

Brown will spend much of this week at the summit being held in his hometown, but San Francisco is also the birthplace of the Democrat who has a very good chance of following him into the governor’s office, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The city by the bay has been key to Newsom’s ascent to the top of California’s political world — aided by some of its most wealthy and influential residents.

A team of Times reporters took an in-depth look at how eight of San Francisco’s most elite families have been in Newsom’s orbit for decades, and he in theirs. The first sentence in their fascinating look at the relationship says it all: “Gavin Newsom wasn’t born rich, but he was born connected — and those alliances have paid handsome dividends throughout his career.”

DEMOCRATS FIRED UP AS OBAMA HITS THE O.C.

We’ve known for some time that Democrats see the road to winning back the House of Representatives as running through Southern California.

On Saturday, the party’s picks for several big congressional races soaked up the warmth of a fired-up Democratic crowd that came to Anaheim to see former President Barack Obama.

The Democratic hopefuls, Obama said, were reaching out “not just to true-blue, die-hard” party loyalists, but to independents as well.

NATIONAL LIGHTNING ROUND

-- Vice President Mike Pence, in an interview that aired Sunday, forcefully denied engaging in any discussion about invoking the 25th Amendment to eject Trump from office.

-- President Trump has agreed to give up his right to pursue millions of dollars in damages against Stormy Daniels in a move to kill litigation over an illegal payoff to the adult-film star — a sharp reversal for the president.

-- Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Sunday accused Trump of holding himself “above the law,” and warned that Judge Brett Kavanaugh, the president’s Supreme Court nominee, viewed the chief executive as an “oligarch” who cannot be investigated or tried for crimes.

-- Small-business owners could avoid a new federal limit on state and local tax deductions after the IRS said that new rules to prevent efforts in California and other states to circumvent the cap apply only to individuals.

THE PUSHBACK TO NEW OFFSHORE DRILLING

California’s opposition to the environmental policies of the Trump administration now includes a pair of laws to thwart new oil drilling in federally controlled waters off the state’s coast.

On Saturday, Brown signed laws that bar the construction of pipelines, piers, wharves or other infrastructure necessary to transport the oil and gas to facilities on the shore.

“Today, California’s message to the Trump administration is simple: Not here, not now,” the governor said in a statement.

POLITICAL ROAD MAP: CAN THE LEGISLATURE OVERTURN AN APPEALS COURT?

In the hours before the California Legislature adjourned for the year, Democrats pushed through a little-noticed but far-reaching bill that raises important questions about the separation of powers.

If the governor signs it, the law would declare a state appeals court ruling overturned. The case involves $331 million in money from a national settlement over the recession’s mortgage meltdown. Simply put: the state doesn’t want to pay it back.

TODAY’S ESSENTIALS

-- This week’s California Politics Podcast takes a quick look through the most important decisions made by the Legislature before the final adjournment for 2018.

-- Bail agents are trying to absorb the realities of a new California law that could decimate their industry. “We are done. We are 100% done,” one agent said.

-- Tens of thousands of Californians have been registered to vote incorrectly by the state Department of Motor Vehicles, including some who were assigned the wrong political party preference.

-- The national organization responsible for helping House Republicans in their reelections this fall isn’t spending any money to boost Irvine Rep. Mimi Walters — because she asked them not to.

-- Two new laws allow Californians to legally change their gender, simplifying the process of obtaining state-issued documents and court orders for the identity designation.

-- At least two people who worked for Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nury Martinez in 2015 were called to testify before a grand jury in June.

-- A police crackdown on local unlicensed marijuana businesses has ended with misdemeanor charges against more than 500 people in Los Angeles, the city attorney’s office said.

-- Gov. Brown vetoed legislation to require a redesign of ballots, even though he didn’t deny the problem in his short veto message.

LOGISTICS

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