California signs climate change legislation into law, aims to reduce carbon footprint

(KYMA, KECY/ CNN) - California governor Gavin Newsom signed sweeping new climate legislation into law Friday with a $54 billion package that aims for carbon neutrality by 2045.

Newsom said California has already taken big steps to reduce its footprint, compared to other states.

"Here we are, leapfrogging and moving ahead, the deniers and the doubters, all that anger these guys are spewing every single night," said Newsom. "Let's think about the state of Texas. The first five months of this year, talk about spewing. 22.9 million tons of coal they spewed in the first five months of this year, compared to California 18,000 tons, 22.9 million tons."

Newsom says this climate action would create four million jobs and one of its main priorities is electrifying vehicles.

$10 billion of the budget is focused on incentives to switch to battery-powered cars.

Newsom estimates these measures could save California about $23 billion in air pollution mitigation.