"It's Not Because I'm Conservative. It's Just Because I'm Cheap"

"In a recent op-ed, close California watcher Joe Mathews wrote that 'Brown's famous skepticism of new programs makes sense if you believe, as Dupuy argues, that man is blind to the consequences of his own progress. Brown's focus on avoiding catastrophes—including his rainy-day fund and his crusade on climate change—reflects Dupuy's "prophet-of-doom" calls.'
"Brown's climate change crusade makes obvious sense when seen through this lens of existential dread. Instead of appealing to the moral rightness of cutting greenhouse emissions, he invokes a horrifying image of a planet ruined by our ignorance. 'Human beings are developing the capacity of unimagined impact,' he says. Here, philosophy meets politics, for by raising the stakes, Brown lowers objections."

Alexander Nazaryan in Newsweek profiles Gov. Jerry Brown.