Obama Speaks on Climate Change: ‘We’ve Got to Move Faster’

‘We’ve also got to take more seriously our obligation to help those communities that are already at risk so that they can become more resilient in the face of climate change’

BARACK OBAMA: "Anchorage became the first city in the world to replace more than a quarter of its roadway lighting with LED lighting, and that saves the city $260,000 a year, cuts its energy consumption from lighting by nearly 60 percent. In the town of Tok, the school district replaced its expensive diesel heating and power systems with one fueled by biomass; saved enough money to rehire the counselor, the music teacher, and the boiler operator. That’s a good story. (Applause)   

And last month, I announced the first set of nationwide standards to end the limitless carbon emissions from our power plants. And that’s the most important step we’ve ever taken on climate change. (Applause)  

So the good news is we’ve made a lot of progress in the last six years. But I’m here to tell you we’ve got to do more. We’ve got to move faster. We’re not moving fast enough. And for the sake of our kids, we’ve got to keep going. America has to lead the world in transitioning to a clean energy economy.

Now, as we make this transition, we’ve also got to take more seriously our obligation to help those communities that are already at risk so that they can become more resilient in the face of climate change. Because some of it we’re not going to be able to avoid. The planet is already getting warmer. And so communities are already going to be affected, and that’s especially pressing here in Alaska." 

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