Weekly Address
The White House
June 29, 2013
Hi everybody. A few days ago, I unveiled a new national plan to confront the growing threat of a changing climate.
Decades of carefully reviewed science tells us our planet
is changing in ways that will have profound impacts on the world we
leave to our children. Already, we know that the 12 warmest years in
recorded history have all come in the last 15, and that last year was
the warmest in American history. And while we know no single weather
event is caused solely by climate change, we also know that in a world
that’s getting warmer than it used to be, all weather events are
affected by it – more extreme droughts, floods, wildfires, and
hurricanes.
Those who already feel the effects of a changing climate
don’t have time to deny it – they’re busy dealing with it. The
firefighters who brave longer wildfire seasons. The farmers who see
crops wilted one year, and washed away the next. Western families
worried about water that’s drying up.
The cost of these events can be measured in lost lives and
livelihoods, lost homes and businesses, and hundreds of billions of
dollars in emergency services and disaster relief. And Americans across
the country are already paying the price of inaction in higher food
costs, insurance premiums, and the tab for rebuilding.
The question is not whether we need to act. The question is whether we will have the courage to act before it’s too late.
The national Climate Action Plan I unveiled will cut
carbon pollution, protect our country from the impacts of climate
change, and lead the world in a coordinated assault on a changing
climate.
To reduce carbon pollution, I’ve directed the
Environmental Protection Agency to work with states and businesses to
set new standards that put an end to the limitless dumping of carbon
pollution from our power plants. We’ll use more clean energy and waste
less energy throughout our economy.
To prepare Americans for the impacts of climate change we
can’t stop, we’ll work with communities to build smarter, more resilient
infrastructure to protect our homes and businesses, and withstand more
powerful storms.
And America will lead global efforts to combat the threat
of a changing climate by encouraging developing nations to transition to
cleaner sources of energy, and by engaging our international partners
in this fight – for while we compete for business, we also share a
planet. And we must all shoulder the responsibility for its future
together.
This is the fight America can and will lead in the 21st
century. But it will require all of us, as citizens, to do our part.
We’ll need scientists to design new fuels, and farmers to grow them.
We’ll need engineers to devise new technologies, and businesses to make
and sell them. We’ll need workers to man assembly lines that hum with
high-tech, zero-carbon components, and builders to hammer into place the
foundations for a new clean energy age. We’ll need to give special
care to people and communities unsettled by this transition. And those
of us in positions of responsibility will need to be less concerned with
the judgment of special interests and well-connected donors, and more
concerned with the judgment of our children.
If you agree with me, I’ll need you to act. Educate your
classmates and colleagues, your family and friends. Speak up in your
communities. Remind everyone who represents you, at every level of
government, that there is no contradiction between a sound environment
and a strong economy – and that sheltering future generations against
the ravages of climate change is a prerequisite for your vote.
We will be judged – as a people, as a society, and as a
country – on where we go from here. The plan I have put forward to
reduce carbon pollution and protect our country from the effects of
climate change is the path we need to take. And if we remember what’s
at stake – the world we leave to our children – I’m convinced that this
is a challenge that we will meet.
Thank you, and have a great weekend.
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