## Briefing Room

Your Weekly Address Speeches & Remarks Press Briefings
Statements & Releases
White House Schedule
Presidential Actions
Executive Orders
Presidential Memoranda
Proclamations Legislation Pending Legislation Signed Legislation Vetoed Legislation Nominations & Appointments
Disclosures

For Immediate Release June 25, 2013 The White House Office of the Press Secretary 

# Remarks by the President on Climate Change the WHITE HOUSE PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA 

#  https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/remarks-president-c limate-change

8/31/2015Georgetown University Washington, D.C.

1:45 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you! (Applause.) Thank you, Georgetown! Thank you so much. Everybody, please be seated. And my firs t announcement today is that you should all take off your jackets. (Laughter.) I’m going to do the same. (Applause.) It’s not that sexy, now. (Laughter.)
It is good to be back on campus, and it is a great privilege to speak from the steps of this historic hall that welcomed Presidents going b ack to George Washington.
I want to thank your president, President DeGioia, who’s here today. (Applause.) I want to thank him for hosting us. I want to thank the many members of my Cabinet and my administration. I want to thank Leader Pelos i and the members of Congress who are here. We are very grateful for their suppo rt.
And I want to say thank you to the Hoyas in the hou se for having me back. (Applause.) It was important for me to speak direct ly to your generation, because the decisions that we make now and in the years ahe ad will have a profound impact on the world that all of you inherit.
On Christmas Eve, 1968, the astronauts of Apollo 8 did a live broadcast from lunar orbit. So Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, William Anders -- the first humans to orbit the moon -– described what they saw, and they read Scrip ture from the Book of Genesis to the rest of us back here. And later that night, they took a photo that would change the way we see and think about our world.
It was an image of Earth -– beautiful; breathtaking ; a glowing marble of blue oceans, and green forests, and brown mountains brushed with white clouds, rising over the surface of the moon.
And while the sight of our planet from space might seem routine today, imagine what it looked like to those of us seeing our home, our planet, for the first time. Imagine what it looked like to children like me. Even the astronauts were amazed. “It makes you realize,” Lovell would say, “just what you have back there on Earth.”
And around the same time we began exploring space, scientists were studying changes taking place in the Earth’s atmosphere. No w, scientists had known since the 1800s that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide trap heat, and that burning fossil fuels release those gases into the air. Thatwasn’t news. But in the late 1950s, the National Weather Service began measuring the le vels of carbon dioxide in our https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/remarks-president-c limate-change

8/31/2015atmosphere, with the worry that rising levels mightsomeday disrupt the fragile balance that makes our planet so hospitable. And w hat they’ve found, year after year, is that the levels of carbon pollution in our atmosphere have increased dramatically.
That science, accumulated and reviewed over decades , tells us that our planet is changing in ways that will have profound impacts on all of humankind.
The 12 warmest years in recorded history have all c ome in the last 15 years. Last year, temperatures in some areas of the ocean reach ed record highs, and ice in the Arctic shrank to its smallest size on record -- fas ter than most models had predicted it would. These are facts.
Now, we know that no single weather event is caused solely by climate change. Droughts and fires and floods, they go back to anci ent times. But we also know that in a world that’s warmer than it used to be, all we ather events are affected by a warming planet. The fact that sea level in New Yor k, in New York Harbor, are now a foot higher than a century ago -- that didn’t cause Hurricane Sandy, but it certainly contributed to the destruction that left large part s of our mightiest city dark and underwater.
The potential impacts go beyond rising sea levels. Here at home, 2012 was the warmest year in our history. Midwest farms were pa rched by the worst drought since the Dust Bowl, and then drenched by the wette st spring on record. Western wildfires scorched an area larger than the state of Maryland. Just last week, a heat wave in Alaska shot temperatures into the 90s.

And we know that the costs of these events can be m easured in lost lives and lost livelihoods, lost homes, lost businesses, hundreds o f billions of dollars in emergency services and disaster relief. In fact, those who a re already feeling the effects of climate change don’t have time to deny it -- they’re busy dealing with it. Firefighters are braving longer wildfire seasons, and states and federal governments have to figure out how to budget for that. I had to sit on a meeting with the Department of Interior and Agriculture and some of the rest of myteam just to figure out how we're going to pay for more and more expensive fire seaso ns. Farmers see crops wilted one year, washed away the next; and the higher food prices get passed on to you, the American consumer. Mountain communities worry about what smaller snowpacks will mean for tourism -- and then, families at the bottom of the mountains wonder what it will mean fo r their drinking water. Americans across the country are already paying the price of inaction in insurance premiums, state and local taxes, and the costs of re building and disaster relief. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/remarks-president-c limate-change

8/31/2015So the question is not whether we need to act. The overwhelming judgment of science -- of chemistry and physics and millions of measurements -- has put all that to rest. Ninety-seven percent of scientists, inclu ding, by the way, some who originally disputed the data, have now put that to rest. They've acknowledged the planet is warming and human activity is contributing to it.
So the question now is whether we will have the cou rage to act before it’s too late. And how we answer will have a profound impact on th e world that we leave behind not just to you, but to your children and to your g randchildren.
As a President, as a father, and as an American, I’ m here to say we need to act. (Applause.)
I refuse to condemn your generation and future gene rations to a planet that’s beyond fixing. And that’s why, today, I'm announci ng a new national climate action plan, and I'm here to enlist your generation's help in keeping the United States of America a leader -- a global leader -- in the fightagainst climate change.
This plan builds on progress that we've already mad e. Last year, I took office -- the year that I took office, my administration pledged to reduce America's greenhouse gas emissions by about 17 percent from their 2005 l evels by the end of this decade. And we rolled up our sleeves and we got to work. We doubled the electricity we generated from wind and the sun. We doubled the mi leage our cars will get on a gallon of gas by the middle of the next decade. (A pplause.)
Here at Georgetown, I unveiled my strategy for a se cure energy future. And thanks to the ingenuity of our businesses, we're starting t o produce much more of our own energy. We're building the first nuclear power pla nts in more than three decades -- in Georgia and South Carolina. For the first time in 18 years, America is poised to produce more of our own oil than we buy from other nations. And today, we produce more natural gas than anybody else. So we' re producing energy. And these advances have grown our economy, they've crea ted new jobs, they can't be shipped overseas -- and, by the way, they've also he lped drive our carbon pollution to its lowest levels in nearly 20 years. Since 200 6, no country on Earth has reduced its total carbon pollution by as much as the United States of America. (Applause.)
So it's a good start. But the reason we're all here in the heat today is because we know we've got more to do.
In my State of the Union address, I urged Congress to come up with a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change, like the o ne that Republican and https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/remarks-president-c limate-change

8/31/2015Democratic senators worked on together a few years ago. And I still want to see that happen. I'm willing to work with anyone to ma ke that happen.
But this is a challenge that does not pause for partisan gridlock. It demands our attention now. And this is my plan to meet it -- a plan to cut carbon pollution; a plan to protect our country from the impacts of climate change; and a plan to lead the world in a coordinated assault on a changing climat e. (Applause.)
This plan begins with cutting carbon pollution by c hanging the way we use energy -- using less dirty energy, using more clean energy, w asting less energy throughout our economy. Forty-three years ago, Congress passed a law called the Clean Air Act of 1970. (Applause.) It was a good law. The reasoning behi nd it was simple: New technology can protect our health by protecting the air we breathe from harmful pollution. And that law passed the Senate unanimou sly. Think about that -- it passed the Senate unanimously. It passed the House of Representatives 375 to 1. I don’t know who the one guy was -- I haven’t looke d that up. (Laughter.) You can barely get that many votes to name a post office th ese days. (Laughter.)
It was signed into law by a Republican President. I t was later strengthened by another Republican President. This used to be a bi partisan issue.
Six years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that greenho use gases are pollutants covered by that same Clean Air Act. (Applause.) A nd they required the Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA, to determ ine whether they’re a threat to our health and welfare. In 2009, the EPA determined that they are a threat to both our health and our welfare in many different ways - - from dirtier air to more common heat waves -- and, therefore, subject to regulation

. Today, about 40 percent of America’s carbon polluti on comes from our power plants. But here’s the thing: Right now, there are no federal limits to the amount of carbon pollution that those plants can pump into ou r air. None. Zero. We limit the amount of toxic chemicals like mercury and sulfur a nd arsenic in our air or our water, but power plants can still dump unlimited amounts o f carbon pollution into the air for free. That’s not right, that’s not safe, and it nee ds to stop. (Applause.)
So today, for the sake of our children, and the hea lth and safety of all Americans, I’m directing the Environmental Protection Agency t o put an end to the limitless dumping of carbon pollution from our power plants, and complete new pollution standards for both new and existing power plants. (Applause.) https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/remarks-president-c limate-change

8/31/2015I’m also directing the EPA to develop these standards in an open and transparent way, to provide flexibility to different states with different needs, and build on the leadership that many states, and cities, and compani es have already shown. In fact, many power companies have already begun modernizing their plants, and creating new jobs in the process. Others have shifted to bu rning cleaner natural gas instead of dirtier fuel sources.
Nearly a dozen states have already implemented or a re implementing their own market-based programs to reduce carbon pollution. More than 25 have set energy efficiency targets. More than 35 have set renewabl e energy targets. Over 1,000 mayors have signed agreements to cut carbon polluti on. So the idea of setting higher pollution standards for our power plants is not new. It’s just time for Washington to catch up with the rest of the country . And that's what we intend to do. (Applause.)
Now, what you’ll hear from the special interests an d their allies in Congress is that this will kill jobs and crush the economy, and basi cally end American free enterprise as we know it. And the reason I know you'll hear t hose things is because that's what they said every time America sets clear rules and b etter standards for our air and our water and our children’s health. And every tim e, they've been wrong.
For example, in 1970, when we decided through the C lean Air Act to do something about the smog that was choking our cities -- and, by the way, most young people here aren't old enough to remember what it was like , but when I was going to school in 1979-1980 in Los Angeles, there were days where folks couldn't go outside. And the sunsets were spectacular because of all the pol lution in the air.
But at the time when we passed the Clean Air Act to try to get rid of some of this smog, some of the same doomsayers were saying new p ollution standards will decimate the auto industry. Guess what -- it didn’ t happen. Our air got cleaner.
In 1990, when we decided to do something about acid rain, they said our electricity bills would go up, the lights would go off, busines ses around the country would suffer -- I quote -- “a quiet death.” None of it h appened, except we cut acid rain dramatically.
See, the problem with all these tired excuses for i naction is that it suggests a fundamental lack of faith in American business and American ingenuity. (Applause.) These critics seem to think that when we ask our businesses to innovate and reduce pollution and lead, they can't or they won't do it. They'll just kind of give up and quit. But in America, we know that’s not true. Look at our history. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/remarks-president-c limate-change

8/31/2015When we restricted cancer-causing chemicals in plas tics and leaded fuel in our cars, it didn’t end the plastics industry or the oil indu stry. American chemists came up with better substitutes. When we phased out CFCs --the gases that were depleting the ozone layer -- it didn’t kill off refrigerators or air-conditioners or deodorant. (Laughter.) American workers and businesses figure d out how to do it better without harming the environment as much.
The fuel standards that we put in place just a few y ears ago didn’t cripple automakers. The American auto industry retooled, a nd today, our automakers are selling the best cars in the world at a faster rate than they have in five years -- with more hybrid, more plug-in, more fuel-efficient cars for everybody to choose from. (Applause.)
So the point is, if you look at our history, don’t b et against American industry. Don’t bet against American workers. Don’t tell folks tha t we have to choose between the health of our children or the health of our economy . (Applause.)
The old rules may say we can’t protect our environme nt and promote economic growth at the same time, but in America, we’ve alwa ys used new technologies -- we’ve used science; we’ve used research and developm ent and discovery to make the old rules obsolete.
Today, we use more clean energy –- more renewables and natural gas -– which is supporting hundreds of thousands of good jobs. We waste less energy, which saves you money at the pump and in your pocketbooks . And guess what -- our economy is 60 percent bigger than it was 20 years a go, while our carbon emissions are roughly back to where they were 20 years ago.
So, obviously, we can figure this out. It’s not an either/or; it’s a both/and. We’ve got to look after our children; we have to look after o ur future; and we have to grow the economy and create jobs. We can do all of that as l ong as we don’t fear the future; instead we seize it. (Applause.)
And, by the way, don’t take my word for it -- recen tly, more than 500 businesses, including giants like GM and Nike, issued a Climate Declaration, calling action on climate change “one of the great economic opportuni ties of the 21st century.” Walmart is working to cut its carbon pollution by 2 0 percent and transition completely to renewable energy. (Applause.) Walmart deserves a cheer for that. (Applause.) But think about it. Would the biggestcompany, the biggest retailer in America -- would they really do that if it weren’t good for business, if it weren’t good for their shareholders? https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/remarks-president-c limate-change

8/31/2015A low-carbon, clean energy economy can be an engine of growth for decades to come. And I want America to build that engine. I want America to build that future -- right here in the United States of America. That’s our task. (Applause.)
Now, one thing I want to make sure everybody unders tands -- this does not mean that we’re going to suddenly stop producing fossil fuels. Our economy wouldn’t run very well if it did. And transitioning to a clean energy economy takes time. But when the doomsayers trot out the old warnings that these ambitions will somehow hurt our energy supply, just remind them that Ameri ca produced more oil than we have in 15 years. What is true is that we can’t ju st drill our way out of the energy and climate challenge that we face. (Applause.) T hat’s not possible.
I put forward in the past an all-of-the-above energ y strategy, but our energy strategy must be about more than just producing more oil. A nd, by the way, it’s certainly got to be about more than just building one pipeline. (Applause.)
Now, I know there’s been, for example, a lot of con troversy surrounding the proposal to build a pipeline, the Keystone pipeline, that wo uld carry oil from Canadian tar sands down to refineries in the Gulf. And the Stat e Department is going through the final stages of evaluating the proposal. That’s ho w it’s always been done. But I do want to be clear: Allowing the Keystone pipeline t o be built requires a finding that doing so would be in our nation’s interest. And ou r national interest will be served only if this project does not significantly exacerb ate the problem of carbon pollution. (Applause.) The net effects of the pipeline’s impa ct on our climate will be absolutely critical to determining whether this project is all owed to go forward. It’s relevant.
Now, even as we’re producing more domestic oil, we’ re also producing more cleaner-burning natural gas than any other country o n Earth. And, again, sometimes there are disputes about natural gas, butlet me say this: We should strengthen our position as the top natural gas prod ucer because, in the medium term at least, it not only can provide safe, cheap p ower, but it can also help reduce our carbon emissions.
Federally supported technology has helped our busin esses drill more effectively and extract more gas. And now, we'll keep working with the industry to make drilling safer and cleaner, to make sure that we're not seei ng methane emissions, and to put people to work modernizing our natural gas infrastr ucture so that we can power more homes and businesses with cleaner energy.
The bottom line is natural gas is creating jobs. I t's lowering many families' heat and power bills. And it's the transition fuel that can power our economy with less carbon https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/remarks-president-c limate-change

8/31/2015pollution even as our businesses work to develop an d then deploy more of the technology required for the even cleaner energy eco nomy of the future.
And that brings me to the second way that we're goi ng to reduce carbon pollution -- by using more clean energy. Over the past four yea rs, we've doubled the electricity that we generate from zero-carbon wind and solar po wer. (Applause.) And that means jobs -- jobs manufacturing the wind turbines that now generate enough electricity to power nearly 15 million homes; jobs installing the solar panels that now generate more than four times the power at less cos t than just a few years ago.
I know some Republicans in Washington dismiss these jobs, but those who do need to call home -- because 75 percent of all wind energy in this country is generated in Republican districts. (Laughter.) And that may exp lain why last year, Republican governors in Kansas and Oklahoma and Iowa -- Iowa, by the way, a state that harnesses almost 25 percent of its electricity from the wind -- helped us in the fight to extend tax credits for wind energy manufacturers and producers. (Applause.) Tens of thousands good jobs were on the line, and t hose jobs were worth the fight.
And countries like China and Germany are going all in in the race for clean energy. I believe Americans build things better than anybody else. I want America to win that race, but we can't win it if we're not in it. (App lause.)
So the plan I'm announcing today will help us doubl e again our energy from wind and sun. Today, I'm directing the Interior Departm ent to green light enough private, renewable energy capacity on public lands to power more than 6 million homes by 2020. (Applause.)
The Department of Defense -- the biggest energy con sumer in America -- will install 3 gigawatts of renewable power on its bases, genera ting about the same amount of electricity each year as you'd get from burning 3 m illion tons of coal. (Applause.)
And because billions of your tax dollars continue t o still subsidize some of the most profitable corporations in the history of the world , my budget once again calls for Congress to end the tax breaks for big oil companies , and invest in the clean-energy companies that will fuel our future. (Applause.)
Now, the third way to reduce carbon pollution is to waste less energy -- in our cars, our homes, our businesses. The fuel standards we s et over the past few years mean that by the middle of the next decade, the cars and trucks we buy will go twice as far on a gallon of gas. That means you’ll have to fill up half as often; we’ll all reduce carbon pollution. And we built on that succ ess by setting the first-ever https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/remarks-president-c limate-change

8/31/2015standards for heavy-duty trucks and buses and vans. And in the coming months, we’ll partner with truck makers to do it again for the next generation of vehicles.
Meanwhile, the energy we use in our homes and our b usinesses and our factories, our schools, our hospitals -- that’s responsible fo r about one-third of our greenhouse gases. The good news is simple upgrades don’t justcut that pollution; they put people to work -- manufacturing and installing smarter lights and windows and sensors and appliances. And the savings show up in our electricity bills every month -- forever. That’s why we’ve set new energy s tandards for appliances like refrigerators and dishwashers. And today, our busin esses are building better ones that will also cut carbon pollution and cut consume rs’ electricity bills by hundreds of billions of dollars.
That means, by the way, that our federal governmentalso has to lead by example. I’m proud that federal agencies have reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by more than 15 percent since I took office. But we c an do even better than that. So today, I’m setting a new goal: Your federal govern ment will consume 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources within the n ext seven years. We are going to set that goal. (Applause.)
We’ll also encourage private capital to get off the sidelines and get into these energy-saving investments. And by the end of the ne xt decade, these combined efficiency standards for appliances and federal bui ldings will reduce carbon pollution by at least three billion tons. That’s an amount eq ual to what our entire energy sector emits in nearly half a year.
So I know these standards don’t sound all that sexy , but think of it this way: That’s the equivalent of planting 7.6 billion trees and le tting them grow for 10 years -- all while doing the dishes. It is a great deal and we need to be doing it. (Applause.)
So using less dirty energy, transitioning to cleane r sources of energy, wasting less energy through our economy is where we need to go. And this plan will get us there faster. But I want to be honest -- this will not g et us there overnight. The hard truth is carbon pollution has built up in our atmosphere for decades now. And even if we Americans do our part, the planet will slowly keep warming for some time to come. The seas will slowly keep rising and storms will getmore severe, based on the science. It's like tapping the brakes of a car before you come to a complete stop and then can shift into reverse. It's going to tak e time for carbon emissions to stabilize.
So in the meantime, we're going to need to get prep ared. And that’s why this plan will also protect critical sectors of our economy a nd prepare the United States for the https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/remarks-president-c limate-change

8/31/2015impacts of climate change that we cannot avoid. St ates and cities across the country are already taking it upon themselves to ge t ready. Miami Beach is hardening its water supply against seeping saltwate r. We’re partnering with the state of Florida to restore Florida’s natural clean water delivery system -- the Everglades. The overwhelmingly Republican legislature in Texas voted to spend money on a new water development bank as a long-running drough t cost jobs and forced a town to truck in water from the outside.
New York City is fortifying its 520 miles of coastl ine as an insurance policy against more frequent and costly storms. And what we’ve le arned from Hurricane Sandy and other disasters is that we’ve got to build smarter, more resilient infrastructure that can protect our homes and businesses, and with stand more powerful storms. That means stronger seawalls, natural barriers, hardened power grids, hardened water systems, hardened fuel supplies.
So the budget I sent Congress includes funding to s upport communities that build these projects, and this plan directs federal agenci es to make sure that any new project funded with taxpayer dollars is built to wi thstand increased flood risks.
And we’ll partner with communities seeking help to prepare for droughts and floods, reduce the risk of wildfires, protect the dunes and wetlands that pull double duty as green space and as natural storm barriers. And we' ll also open our climate data and NASA climate imagery to the public, to make sure th at cities and states assess risk under different climate scenarios, so that we don’twaste money building structures that don’t withstand the next storm.
So that's what my administration will do to supportthe work already underway across America, not only to cut carbon pollution, b ut also to protect ourselves from climate change. But as I think everybody here unde rstands, no nation can solve this challenge alone -- not even one as powerful as ours . And that’s why the final part of our plan calls on America to lead -- lead internati onal efforts to combat a changing climate. (Applause.)

And make no mistake -- the world still looks to Amer ica to lead. When I spoke to young people in Turkey a few years ago, the first q uestion I got wasn't about the challenges that part of the world faces. It was ab out the climate challenge that we all face, and America's role in addressing it. And it was a fair question, because as the world's largest economy and second-largest carb on emitter, as a country with unsurpassed ability to drive innovation and scienti fic breakthroughs, as the country that people around the world continue to look to in times of crisis, we've got a vital https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/remarks-president-c limate-change

8/31/2015role to play. We can't stand on the sidelines. We' ve got a unique responsibility. And the steps that I've outlined today prove that w e're willing to meet that responsibility.
Though all America's carbon pollution fell last yea r, global carbon pollution rose to a record high. That’s a problem. Developing countri es are using more and more energy, and tens of millions of people entering a g lobal middle class naturally want to buy cars and air-conditioners of their own, justlike us. Can't blame them for that. And when you have conversations with poor countries, they'll say, well, you went through these stages of development -- why can't we ?
But what we also have to recognize is these same co untries are also more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than we are. They don’t just have as much to lose, they probably have more to lose.
Developing nations with some of the fastest-rising levels of carbon pollution are going to have to take action to meet this challenge alongside us. They're watching what we do, but we've got to make sure that they're stepping up to the plate as well. We compete for business with them, but we also share a planet. And we have to all shoulder the responsibility for keeping the planet habitable, or we're going to suffer the consequences -- together.
So to help more countries transitioning to cleaner s ources of energy and to help them do it faster, we're going to partner with our private sector to apply private sector technological know-how in countries that tra nsition to natural gas. We’ve mobilized billions of dollars in private capital fo r clean energy projects around the world.
Today, I'm calling for an end of public financing for new coal plants overseas -- (applause) -- unless they deploy carbon-capture tec hnologies, or there's no other viable way for the poorest countries to generate el ectricity. And I urge other countries to join this effort.
And I'm directing my administration to launch negot iations toward global free trade in environmental goods and services, including clean e nergy technology, to help more countries skip past the dirty phase of development and join a global low-carbon economy. They don’t have to repeat all the same mi stakes that we made. (Applause.)
We've also intensified our climate cooperation with major emerging economies like India and Brazil, and China -- the world’s largest e mitter. So, for example, earlier this month, President Xi of China and I reached an important agreement to jointly https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/remarks-president-c limate-change

8/31/2015phase down our production and consumption of dangerous hydrofluorocarbons, and we intend to take more steps together in the months to come. It will make a difference. It’s a significant step in the reducti on of carbon emissions. (Applause.)
And finally, my administration will redouble our ef forts to engage our international partners in reaching a new global agreement to redu ce carbon pollution through concrete action. (Applause.)
Four years ago, in Copenhagen, every major country agreed, for the first time, to limit carbon pollution by 2020. Two years ago, we decided to forge a new agreement beyond 2020 that would apply to all count ries, not just developed countries.
What we need is an agreement that’s ambitious -- be cause that’s what the scale of the challenge demands. We need an inclusive agreem ent -– because every country has to play its part. And we need an agreement tha t’s flexible -- because different nations have different needs. And if we can come t ogether and get this right, we can define a sustainable future for your generation

. So that’s my plan. (Applause.) The actions I’ve a nnounced today should send a strong signal to the world that America intends to take bold action to reduce carbon pollution. We will continue to lead by the power o f our example, because that’s what the United States of America has always done.
I am convinced this is the fight America can, and w ill, lead in the 21st century. And I’m convinced this is a fight that America must lea d. But it will require all of us to do our part. We’ll need scientists to design new fuels , and we’ll need farmers to grow new fuels. We’ll need engineers to devise new tech nologies, and we’ll need businesses to make and sell those technologies. We’ ll need workers to operate assembly lines that hum with high-tech, zero-carbon components, but we’ll also need builders to hammer into place the foundations for a new clean energy era.
We’re going to need to give special care to people and communities that are unsettled by this transition -- not just here in th e United States but around the world. And those of us in positions of responsibility, we’ ll need to be less concerned with the judgment of special interests and well-connecte d donors, and more concerned with the judgment of posterity. (Applause.) Becau se you and your children, and your children’s children, will have to live with th e consequences of our decisions.
As I said before, climate change has become a parti san issue, but it hasn’t always been. It wasn’t that long ago that Republicans led the way on new and innovative policies to tackle these issues. Richard Nixon ope ned the EPA. George H.W. Bush https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/remarks-president-c limate-change

8/31/2015declared -- first U.S. President to declare -- “hum an activities are changing the atmosphere in unexpected and unprecedented ways.” Someone who never shies away from a challenge, John McCain, introduced a mar ket-based cap-and-trade bill to slow carbon pollution.
The woman that I’ve chosen to head up the EPA, Gina McCarthy, she’s worked -- (applause) -- she’s terrific. Gina has worked for the EPA in my administration, but she’s also worked for five Republican governors. S he’s got a long track record of working with industry and business leaders to forge common-sense solutions. Unfortunately, she’s being held up in the Senate. S he’s been held up for months, forced to jump through hoops no Cabinet nominee sho uld ever have to –- not because she lacks qualifications, but because there are too many in the Republican Party right now who think that the Environmental Protection Agency has no business protecting our environment from carbon pollution. T he Senate should confirm her without any further obstruction or delay. (Applaus e.) But more broadly, we’ve got to move beyond partisan politics on this issue. I want to be clear -- I am willing to work with anybody –- Re publicans, Democrats, independents, libertarians, greens -– anybody -- to combat this threat on behalf of our kids. I am open to all sorts of new ideas, mayb e better ideas, to make sure that we deal with climate change in a way that promotes jobs and growth.
Nobody has a monopoly on what is a very hard proble m, but I don’t have much patience for anyone who denies that this challenge is real. (Applause.) We don’t have time for a meeting of the Flat Earth Society. (Applause.) Sticking your head in the sand might make you feel safer, but it’s not go ing to protect you from the coming storm. And ultimately, we will be judged as a peop le, and as a society, and as a country on where we go from here.
Our founders believed that those of us in positions of power are elected not just to serve as custodians of the present, but as caretakers of the future. And they charged us to make decisions with an eye on a longe r horizon than the arc of our own political careers. That’s what the American pe ople expect. That’s what they deserve.
And someday, our children, and our children’s child ren, will look at us in the eye and they'll ask us, did we do all that we could when we had the chance to deal with this problem and leave them a cleaner, safer, more stabl e world? And I want to be able to say, yes, we did. Don’t you want that? (Applau se.)
Americans are not a people who look backwards; we're a people who look forward. We're not a people who fear what the future holds; we shape it. What we need in https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/remarks-president-c limate-change

8/31/2015this fight are citizens who will stand up, and spea k up, and compel us to do what this moment demands.
Understand this is not just a job for politicians. So I'm going to need all of you to educate your classmates, your colleagues, your pare nts, your friends. Tell them what’s at stake. Speak up at town halls, church groups, PTA meetings. Push back on misinformation. Speak up for the facts. Broade n the circle of those who are willing to stand up for our future. (Applause.)
Convince those in power to reduce our carbon pollut ion. Push your own communities to adopt smarter practices. Invest. D ivest. (Applause.) Remind folks there's no contradiction between a sound environmen t and strong economic growth. And remind everyone who represents you at every lev el of government that sheltering future generations against the ravages o f climate change is a prerequisite for your vote. Make yourself heard on this issue. (Applause.)
I understand the politics will be tough. The chall enge we must accept will not reward us with a clear moment of victory. There’s no gath ering army to defeat. There's no peace treaty to sign. When President Kennedy said we ’d go to the moon within the decade, we knew we’d build a spaceship and we’d mee t the goal. Our progress here will be measured differently -- in crises avert ed, in a planet preserved. But can we imagine a more worthy goal? For while we may no t live to see the full realization of our ambition, we will have the satisfaction of k nowing that the world we leave to our children will be better off for what we did.
“It makes you realize,” that astronaut said all tho se years ago, “just what you have back there on Earth.” And that image in the photog raph, that bright blue ball rising over the moon’s surface, containing everything we hol d dear -- the laughter of children, a quiet sunset, all the hopes and dreams of posterity -- that’s what’s at stake. That’s what we’re fighting for. And if we remember that, I’m absolutely sure we'll succeed.
Thank you. God bless you. God bless the United St ates of America. (Applause.)

END 2:32 P.M. EDT



###        

HOME BRIEFING ROOM ISSUES THE ADMINISTRATION PARTICIPATE 1600 PENN https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/remarks-president-c limate-change

8/31/2015En Español Accessibility Copyright Information Privacy Policy USA.gov https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/remarks-president-c limate-change

8/31/2015