Jerry Brown calls state's global warming law the key difference between himself and Meg Whitman. - San Jose Mercury News

Calling the issue the defining difference between himself and Republican Meg Whitman in the governor's race, Democrat Jerry Brown gave an impassioned defense Thursday of California's landmark global warming law.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Mercury News editorial board, the attorney general called Assembly Bill 32 — now under attack by conservatives and some business interests as a job killer — "a path forward'' for the Golden State. Brown said the new law would create hundreds of thousands of clean-energy jobs , reclaiming from China leadership of the clean-tech economy.

"This is a powerful future," Brown said. "I see this as the key" to job creation.