President Obama’s Climate Change Plan

The Obama Administration is tackling climate change.  In a speech delivered at Georgetown University yesterday – outdoors in sweltering 90°F heat – the President outlined his plan to combat this pressing issue.

The three key points of his strategy are: cutting carbon pollution in America, preparing the U.S. for the impacts of climate change, and leading international efforts to cut global emissions.  While highlighting a number of measures in each category, one of the most significant aspects of this plan is to cut carbon dioxide emissions from both new and existing power plants. Coal-fired power plants are responsible for one-third of this country’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Emphasizing the need to act quickly, these measures will be put in place by executive order and not Congress. The President stated, “Americans across the country are already paying the price of inaction” and he would not tolerate politicized attempts to cast doubt on the scientific consensus of climate change.  Putting it bluntly, he said, “We don’t have time for a meeting of the flat earth society.”