I received a visit from the delegation composed of members from the California State Assembly in my office. California is larger than Japan by area, with a population of one-third of that of Japan, about 39.6 million as of 2018. We can easily imagine how large this state is. They asked me about the Japanese government’s environmental policies, and I explained to them mainly about global warming, energy recycling, and marine plastic pollution. The self-government system of the U.S. states is more advanced than that of Japan’s local governments. Each state has its own laws regulating environmental issues. Since most of the delegation members were Democrats, they were not concerned with the environmental policies addressed by President Trump (Republican).
