President Obama Outlines Climate Change Initiative
June 27, 2013
President Barack Obama, speaking on June 25 at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., laid out a master plan to address climate change. In the speech, the president declared his commitment to tackling what most scientists believe is the single greatest threat to the U.S. economy and to the future of the nation. He announced that he will invoke his executive authority to undertake a number of measures: cutting domestic carbon emissions; preparing the United States for the multiple and costly impacts of climate change; and leading international efforts to lower carbon emissions globally through our membership in the World Trade Organization.
The president called for drafting higher carbon emission standards for the entire nation, particularly for the number-one polluter–electric power utilities. He pledged to instruct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce emissions from existing coal- and natural gas-fired power plants by June 2014. Noting that clean, renewable power is a critical part of reducing carbon emissions, the president proposed dramatically expanding the use of renewable energy. To this end, he will direct the Department of the Interior to grant permits for new wind and solar energy projects on public lands, enough to power more than 6 million homes by 2020.
New energy efficiency standards for federal buildings and appliances have, the president disclosed, already been established in an effort to reduce carbon pollution by at least 3.3 billion short tons (3 billion metric tons) cumulatively by 2030. He pointed out that efficiency standards for appliances, such as refrigerators and dishwashers, already issued by his administration will save consumers an estimated $95 billion on their energy bills by 2035.
Surprising many energy industry experts, the president discussed the proposed Keystone Pipeline that is to transport Canadian oil sands output to refineries on the Gulf Coast. He noted that the decision to approve its construction will be based on whether the pipeline is in the national interest and whether it would lead to a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions. “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,” the president declared.
President Obama said he would direct all federal agencies to help brace the nation for the existing effects of climate change, including warmer temperatures, extended droughts, and stronger storms. His initial plans include instituting rules requiring that all new federal projects be strong enough to withstand the titanic storms and rise in sea level most scientists now associate with climate change.
Nearly all of the president’s proposals are executive actions that do not require congressional approval. Political experts point out that President Obama would have a difficult time getting climate change legislation through Congress, given a U.S. House controlled by Republicans and a Senate in which there are enough Republican members to mount effective filibusters. The 2012 Republican Party platform emphasized the need to encourage greater domestic oil, gas, and coal development and called on Congress “to take quick action to prohibit the EPA from moving forward with new greenhouse gas regulations that will harm the nation’s economy and threaten millions of jobs over the next quarter century.”
Additional World Book articles:
- The Great Meltdown (a special report)
- Methane (a special report)
- Meltdown: Climate Change in the Arctic (a special report)
- Probing the History of Climate Change (a special report)
- What We Know About Global Warming (a special report)