(applause)
The President:
Thank you, Georgetown!
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)
I 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.
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 decisions.
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.
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.
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)
