California Republicans face backlash for backing climate change program

After weeks of escalating criticism, Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes still doesn’t have any regrets over bucking his party to support California’s cap-and-trade program on climate change.

There’s just one thing Mayes would have done differently: He wishes he had attended the ceremony on San Francisco’s Treasure Island where Gov. Jerry Brown signed the legislation.

“The perception was, ‘He didn’t go because he was getting heat.’ That’s not how I operate,” Mayes said, explaining his absence as a scheduling conflict. “When you do the right thing, it’s a good idea to stand by that.”

Whether he did the right thing is a question that has engulfed California’s struggling Republican Party.

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