We watched today and listened, as did millions of other Climate Mamas and Papas around the world, as President Obama gave us a real, concrete and viable plan on how he will follow through on the commitments he made to our children in his January, 2013 inauguration address, when he boldly told us:
“We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries — we must claim its promise. That is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure — our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.”
President Obama reminded us that the road ahead is not an easy one, and that “no single step can reverse the effects of climate change, {but} we have a moral obligation to act on behalf of future generations.” The plan he outlined covers 3 broad areas for safeguarding our children’s health and their future:
1. Cut carbon pollution in America
2. Lead international efforts to cut global emissions
3. Prepare the US for the coming and current impacts of climate change.
How will America be able to accomplish these important goals, given a divisive legislative branch and climate deniers who walk the halls of Congress, unmasked and free to spout lies and spread disinformation?
President Obama plans to use the power of his executive office to move his plan forward in several ways, including:
1. Through the EPA, by Presidential memorandum: to complete carbon pollution standards for new AND EXISTING power plants.
2. By mandating and setting goals for renewable energy capacity in the USA.
3. By establishing energy efficiency standards to reduce carbon pollution.
4. By create policies to reduce emissions from other potent green house gases like HFCs and methane.
5. By investing in resiliency plans and preparing the United States for the impacts of climate change which affect all segments of society and our economy.
The plan is exciting, far-reaching and hopeful and we applaud the President for his bold plan and future actions.
For this moment we are savoring THIS day…as we tell our children, actions speak louder then words. We are proud that the United States now has a President that is ready to use his bully pulpit to publicly recognize the overwhelming scientific evidence that tells us that we humans are causing our climate to change and then FOLLOWS THROUGH.
President Obama has laid out an ambitious plan that takes the important and necessary steps to put the United States on the right path domestically to be prepared for and to fight climate change. In addition, he is claiming our rightful, but recently “empty” seat at the world table. It is past time that the United States became an active player on the world stage for setting in motion a dynamic international agenda that moves quickly to protect our planet and our people from the present and future dangers of climate change.
Our sentiments are tempered however, with our continued disappointment in the President’s support for an “all of the above” energy policy. We hope he will look not only look into his heart on this one, but also have his policy analysts revisit the facts.
To date, there is NO SUCH THING as Clean Coal only billions of dollars wasted trying to prove this concept. NOR do we believe that Natural Gas, a potent greenhouse gas, is a viable and real bridge to a renewable future. We should NOT be supporting a build out of this fossil fuel, one we then will be committed to for a generation or more, if we support it now. Every day, we are presented with new facts that point to how dirty, unhealthy, unsustainable and climate forcing, shale gas and it’s extraction and production process really is. We ask the President to look into the many cases of people becoming sickened who live near natural gas wells, and of water contamination and air pollution that Americans are already reeling from around the country, and reconsider his support for this industry and this form of non-renewable energy.
We need and demand a clean, renewable energy future for our children and for future generations: one that uses power from the wind, sun and waves..
We heard you today President Obama when you said: ” As a president, as a father and as an American, I’m here to say, we need to act.”
We Agree…
Yours,
Climate Mama
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