Obama Talks Climate Change and Environmental Action Plan

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza(WASHINGTON) — On the first anniversary of his “Climate Action Plan,” President Obama Wednesday night declared significant progress in his effort to confront global warming.
 
The president said the country is producing more clean energy and using less “dirty energy” in unprecedented ways since he took office. He said energy generated from the sun has increased ten-fold; energy from wind has tripled.

“Together we’ve held our carbon emissions to levels not seen in 20 years,” he told the League of Conservation Voters, touting his administration’s first-ever fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks.
 
“We’ve got to do more,” Obama said, specifically targeting coal-fired power plants.

“They can dump as much carbon pollution into the air that they want.  It’s not right, not safe, and I’ve determined it needs to stop,” he said referring to the new proposed EPA standards for those plants.  
 
Obama also took swipes at climate change skeptics.
 
“You can ignore the facts, but you can’t deny the facts,” he said, adding, “Folks will tell you climate change is a hoax, a fad, or a plot — a liberal plot!”

The president continued, “Many who say that, and know better, they duck the question. They say, ‘I’m not a scientist.’ Which means, ‘I accept it’s real, but if I say so, I’ll be run out of town by a bunch of fringe elements. So I’ll just say I don’t know, pretend I can’t read.’”

“The good news is the American people are wiser than this,” Obama said, citing recent public polling that shows a strong majority of Americans believe global warming is a problem and that protecting the environment should be a top priority.
 
“You talk to Malia, you talk to Sasha, to talk to your grandkids… This is something they get,” he said. “They don’t need a lot of persuading. And that should make us optimistic.”
 
The president said environmental activists need to be sensitive to “people’s economic concerns” about new regulations, since “people don’t like gas prices going up,” etc.
 
“We’ve got to shape our strategy to speak to the very real and legitimate concerns of working families across America,” he told the crowd.


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