Office of the Press Secretary
June
25, 2013
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Georgetown 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 first 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 back 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 Pelosi and the members of
Congress who are here. We are very grateful for their support.
And I want to say thank you to the
Hoyas in the house for having me back. (Applause.) It was important
for me to speak directly to your generation, because the decisions that we make
now and in the years ahead 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 Scripture 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. Now, 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. That wasn’t news. But in the late 1950s, the
National Weather Service began measuring the levels of carbon dioxide in our
atmosphere, with the worry that rising levels might someday disrupt the fragile
balance that makes our planet so hospitable. And what 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 come in the last 15 years. Last year, temperatures in
some areas of the ocean reached record highs, and ice in the Arctic shrank to
its smallest size on record -- faster 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 ancient times. But we also know that in a world that’s
warmer than it used to be, all weather events are affected by a warming
planet. The fact that sea level in New York, 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 parts 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 parched by the worst drought since the Dust
Bowl, and then drenched by the wettest 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 measured in lost lives and lost livelihoods, lost homes, lost
businesses, hundreds of billions of dollars in emergency services and disaster
relief. In fact, those who are 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
my team just to figure out how we're going to pay for more and more expensive
fire seasons.
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 for 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 rebuilding and disaster relief.
So 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, including, 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 courage to act before it’s too late. And how we answer will
have a profound impact on the world that we leave behind not just to you, but
to your children and to your grandchildren.
As a President, as a father, and as
an American, I’m here to say we need to act. (Applause.)
refuse to condemn your generation
and future generations to a planet that’s beyond fixing. And that’s why,
today, I'm announcing 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 fight against climate change.
This plan builds on progress that
we've already made. 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 levels 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 mileage our cars will get
on a gallon of gas by the middle of the next decade. (Applause.)
Here at Georgetown, I unveiled my
strategy for a secure energy future. And thanks to the ingenuity of our
businesses, we're starting to produce much more of our own energy. We're
building the first nuclear power plants 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 created new
jobs, they can't be shipped overseas -- and, by the way, they've also helped
drive our carbon pollution to its lowest levels in nearly 20 years. Since
2006, 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 one that Republican and Democratic senators worked on together
a few years ago. And I still want to see that happen. I'm willing
to work with anyone to make 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 climate. (Applause.)
This plan begins with cutting
carbon pollution by changing the way we use energy -- using less dirty energy,
using more clean energy, wasting 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 behind it was simple: New technology can
protect our health by protecting the air we breathe from harmful pollution.
And that law passed the Senate unanimously. 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 looked that up.
(Laughter.) You can barely get that many votes to name a post office
these days. (Laughter.)
It was signed into law by a
Republican President. It was later strengthened by another Republican
President. This used to be a bipartisan issue.
Six years ago, the Supreme Court
ruled that greenhouse gases are pollutants covered by that same Clean Air
Act. (Applause.) And they required the Environmental Protection
Agency, the EPA, to determine 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 pollution 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 our air. None.
Zero. We limit the amount of toxic chemicals like mercury and sulfur and
arsenic in our air or our water, but power plants can still dump unlimited
amounts of carbon pollution into the air for free. That’s not right,
that’s not safe, and it needs to stop. (Applause.)
So today, for the sake of our
children, and the health and safety of all Americans, I’m directing the
Environmental Protection Agency to 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.)
I’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 companies 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 burning cleaner natural gas instead
of dirtier fuel sources.
Nearly a dozen states have already
implemented or are implementing their own market-based programs to reduce
carbon pollution. More than 25 have set energy efficiency targets.
More than 35 have set renewable energy targets. Over 1,000 mayors have
signed agreements to cut carbon pollution. 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 and their allies in Congress is that this will kill jobs and
crush the economy, and basically end American free enterprise as we know
it. And the reason I know you'll hear those things is because that's what
they said every time America sets clear rules and better standards for our air
and our water and our children’s health. And every time, they've been wrong.
For example, in 1970, when we
decided through the Clean 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 pollution 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 pollution 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, businesses around the country would suffer -- I quote --
“a quiet death.” None of it happened, except we cut acid rain
dramatically.
See, the problem with all these
tired excuses for inaction 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.
When we restricted cancer-causing
chemicals in plastics and leaded fuel in our cars, it didn’t end the plastics
industry or the oil industry. 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 figured out
how to do it better without harming the environment as much.
The fuel standards that we put in
place just a few years ago didn’t cripple automakers. The American auto
industry retooled, and 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 bet against American
industry. Don’t bet against American workers. Don’t tell folks that
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 environment and promote economic growth at the same time, but in
America, we’ve always used new technologies -- we’ve used science; we’ve used
research and development 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 ago, 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 our future; and we have to grow the
economy and create jobs. We can do all of that as long as we don’t fear the
future; instead we seize it. (Applause.)
And, by the way, don’t take my word
for it -- recently, more than 500 businesses, including giants like GM and
Nike, issued a Climate Declaration, calling action on climate change “one of
the great economic opportunities of the 21st century.” Walmart is working
to cut its carbon pollution by 20 percent and transition completely to
renewable energy. (Applause.) Walmart deserves a cheer for
that. (Applause.) But think about it. Would the biggest
company, 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?
A 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 understands -- 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 America produced more oil than we
have in 15 years. What is true is that we can’t just drill our way out of
the energy and climate challenge that we face. (Applause.) That’s
not possible.
I put forward in the past an
all-of-the-above energy strategy, but our energy strategy must be about more
than just producing more oil. And, 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 controversy surrounding the proposal
to build a pipeline, the Keystone pipeline, that would carry oil from Canadian
tar sands down to refineries in the Gulf. And the State Department is
going through the final stages of evaluating the proposal. That’s how
it’s always been done. But I do want to be clear: Allowing the
Keystone pipeline to be built requires a finding that doing so would be in our
nation’s interest. And our national interest will be served only if this
project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon
pollution. (Applause.) The net effects of the pipeline’s impact on
our climate will be absolutely critical to determining whether this project is
allowed 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 on Earth. And, again, sometimes there are disputes about natural
gas, but let me say this: We should strengthen our position as the top
natural gas producer because, in the medium term at least, it not only can
provide safe, cheap power, but it can also help reduce our carbon
emissions.
Federally supported technology has
helped our businesses 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 seeing methane emissions, and to put people to work
modernizing our natural gas infrastructure so that we can power more homes and
businesses with cleaner energy.
The bottom line is natural gas is
creating jobs. It's lowering many families' heat and power bills.
And it's the transition fuel that can power our economy with less carbon
pollution even as our businesses work to develop and then deploy more of the
technology required for the even cleaner energy economy of the future.
And that brings me to the second
way that we're going to reduce carbon pollution -- by using more clean
energy. Over the past four years, we've doubled the electricity that we
generate from zero-carbon wind and solar power. (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 cost 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 explain 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 those 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. (Applause.)
So the plan I'm announcing today
will help us double again our energy from wind and sun. Today, I'm
directing the Interior Department 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 consumer in America -- will install 3 gigawatts of renewable
power on its bases, generating about the same amount of electricity each year
as you'd get from burning 3 million tons of coal. (Applause.)
And because billions of your tax
dollars continue to 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 set 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 success by setting the first-ever
standards 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 businesses and our factories, our schools, our hospitals --
that’s responsible for about one-third of our greenhouse gases. The good
news is simple upgrades don’t just cut 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 standards for appliances like
refrigerators and dishwashers. And today, our businesses are building
better ones that will also cut carbon pollution and cut consumers’ electricity
bills by hundreds of billions of dollars.
That means, by the way, that our
federal government also 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 can do even better than that.
So today, I’m setting a new goal: Your federal government will consume 20
percent of its electricity from renewable sources within the next 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 next decade, these combined efficiency
standards for appliances and federal buildings will reduce carbon pollution by
at least three billion tons. That’s an amount equal 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 letting 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 cleaner 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 get 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 get more
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 take time for carbon emissions to stabilize.
So in the meantime, we're going to
need to get prepared. And that’s why this plan will also protect critical
sectors of our economy and prepare the United States for the impacts of climate
change that we cannot avoid. States and cities across the country are
already taking it upon themselves to get ready. Miami Beach is hardening
its water supply against seeping saltwater. 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 drought cost jobs and forced a town to truck in water from the
outside.
New York City is fortifying its 520
miles of coastline as an insurance policy against more frequent and costly
storms. And what we’ve learned 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 withstand 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 support communities that build these projects, and this
plan directs federal agencies to make sure that any new project funded with
taxpayer dollars is built to withstand 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 that cities and states assess risk
under different climate scenarios, so that we don’t waste money building
structures that don’t withstand the next storm.
So that's what my administration
will do to support the work already underway across America, not only to cut
carbon pollution, but also to protect ourselves from climate change. But
as I think everybody here understands, 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 international efforts to combat a
changing climate. (Applause.)
And make no mistake -- the world
still looks to America to lead. When I spoke to young people in Turkey a
few years ago, the first question I got wasn't about the challenges that part
of the world faces. It was about 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 carbon emitter, as a country
with unsurpassed ability to drive innovation and scientific breakthroughs, as
the country that people around the world continue to look to in times of
crisis, we've got a vital role 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 we're willing to meet that
responsibility.
Though all America's carbon
pollution fell last year, global carbon pollution rose to a record high.
That’s a problem. Developing countries are using more and more energy,
and tens of millions of people entering a global middle class naturally want to
buy cars and air-conditioners of their own, just like 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 countries 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 sources 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 transition to natural gas. We’ve mobilized
billions of dollars in private capital for 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 technologies, or there's no other viable way for the
poorest countries to generate electricity. And I urge other countries to
join this effort.
And I'm directing my administration
to launch negotiations toward global free trade in environmental goods and
services, including clean energy 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 mistakes 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 emitter. So, for example, earlier this month,
President Xi of China and I reached an important agreement to jointly phase
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 reduction of carbon
emissions. (Applause.)
And finally, my administration will
redouble our efforts to engage our international partners in reaching a new
global agreement to reduce 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 countries, not just developed countries.
What we need is an agreement that’s
ambitious -- because that’s what the scale of the challenge demands. We
need an inclusive agreement -– because every country has to play its
part. And we need an agreement that’s flexible -- because different
nations have different needs. And if we can come together and get this
right, we can define a sustainable future for your generation.
So that’s my plan.
(Applause.) The actions I’ve announced 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 of our example, because
that’s what the United States of America has always done.
I am convinced this is the fight
America can, and will, lead in the 21st century. And I’m convinced this
is a fight that America must lead. 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 technologies, 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 the 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-connected donors, and more concerned with the
judgment of posterity. (Applause.) Because you and your children,
and your children’s children, will have to live with the consequences of our deisions.
As I said before, climate change
has become a partisan 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 opened the EPA. George H.W. Bush
declared -- first U.S. President to declare -- “human activities are changing
the atmosphere in unexpected and unprecedented ways.” Someone who never
shies away from a challenge, John McCain, introduced a market-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. She’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. She’s been held up for
months, forced to jump through hoops no Cabinet nominee should 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. The
Senate should confirm her without any further obstruction or delay.
(Applause.)
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 –- Republicans, Democrats, independents,
libertarians, greens -– anybody -- to combat this threat on behalf of our kids.
I am open to all sorts of new ideas, maybe 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 problem, 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 going to protect you from
the coming storm. And ultimately, we will be judged as a people, 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 longer horizon than the arc of our own political
careers. That’s what the American people expect. That’s what they
deserve.
And someday, our children, and our
children’s children, 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 stable world? And I want to be able to say, yes,
we did. Don’t you want that? (Applause.)
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 this fight are
citizens who will stand up, and speak 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 parents, 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. Broaden the circle
of those who are willing to stand up for our future. (Applause.)
Convince those in power to reduce
our carbon pollution. Push your own communities to adopt smarter
practices. Invest. Divest. (Applause.) Remind folks
there's no contradiction between a sound environment and strong economic growth.
And remind everyone who represents you at every level of government that
sheltering future generations against the ravages of climate change is a
prerequisite for your vote. Make yourself heard on this issue.
(Applause.)
I understand the politics will be
tough. The challenge we must accept will not reward us with a clear
moment of victory. There’s no gathering 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 meet the goal.
Our progress here will be measured differently -- in crises averted, in a
planet preserved. But can we imagine a more worthy goal? For while
we may not live to see the full realization of our ambition, we will have the
satisfaction of knowing that the world we leave to our children will be better
off for what we did.
“It makes you realize,” that
astronaut said all those years ago, “just what you have back there on
Earth.” And that image in the photograph, that bright blue ball rising
over the moon’s surface, containing everything we hold 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 States of America. (Applause.)
END
2:32 P.M. EDT
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