Newsom slammed for Amazon oil imports while attending global climate summit
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The annual United Nations climate summit in the Brazilian Amazon city of Belém will also include speeches and participation by California Governor Gavin Newsom.
But California Republican gubernatorial candidate and former Fox News host Steve Hilton, a longtime critic of Newsom, is announcing the summit if they let him speak.
This week, Hilton sent a letter to chairmen of the COP30 summit, demanding that they now reject speaking roles from California’s governor or risk the conference’s credibility, citing the Democratic governor’s “climate hypocrisy.” Under Newsom’s leadership, California imports nearly half of the crude oil extracted from the Amazon rainforest, according to Hilton.
“Governor Newsom has built his political image around climate virtue signaling while presiding over one of the most environmentally destructive hypocrisies in the world,” Hilton wrote. “This oil comes from one of the most fragile ecosystems on Earth and contributes to deforestation and the displacement of Indigenous communities… Instead of addressing this exploitation, Governor Newsom continues to present himself as a global climate leader, running to pose for cameras at international conferences while his policies fund the destruction of rainforests.”
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GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton (left) and California Governor Gavin Newsom (right) (Getty/AP)
Hilton notes that earlier this year, even members of California’s Democratic-controlled state Senate unanimously called for an investigation into the state’s role in financing the Amazon oil trade. Oil drilling in the Amazon is rapidly increasing deforestation and destroying rainforest biodiversity, according to environmentalists, who argue that California’s reputation as a climate leader has been undermined by oil drilling in South American rainforests.
Hilton, meanwhile, called Newsom’s rise to the top “political theater masquerading as leadership.”
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California Governor Gavin Newsom broke ground on a new state park in ten years on the Dos Rios property in Modesto, California, on Monday, April 22, 2024. The announcement comes as the province sets targets to reduce planet-warming emissions in natural lands. (AP Photo/Sophie Austin)
“For Gavin Newsom to lecture the world on climate justice while the administration supports the destruction of the Amazon would be an insult to the conference and its members,” Hilton wrote to COP30 leaders. “The UNFCCC and COP 30 should not reward hypocrisy with a platform.”
In his speech at the conference on Tuesday, Newsom criticized Donald Trump for his failure to protect the environment, calling him an “invasive species” and a “wrecking ball” when it comes to progress on climate change. Newsom is expected to appear throughout the roughly two weeks the summit is held, including a trip deep into the Amazon Rainforest to meet with local residents and leaders.
This view shows the COP30 logo at the Docks Station in Belem, Para state, Brazil, on October 24, 2025. (Photo: THOMAS MORFIN/AFP via Getty Images)
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Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom’s office in response to Hilton’s petition calling on COP30 to reject the California governor’s appearance at the summit, but received only a six-word response.
“I’m sorry; who is Steve Hilton?” questioned Newsom spokeswoman Izzy Gardon.
