How the President Can Further Address Climate Change

The Obama administration has taken significant action to address climate change, but it still needs to do much more.

Part of a Series

Idea of the Day

Idea of the Day

“This is the global threat of our time. And for the sake of future generations, our generation must move toward a global compact to confront a changing climate before it is too late. That is our job. That is our task. We have to get to work.” – President Barack Obama, June 19, 2013

President Obama knows that climate change is the defining challenge of our time and his presidency. Early in his administration, he committed to putting the United States on a path to reduce the carbon pollution that causes climate change. This commitment—made in Copenhagen in 2009—is a pledge by the United States to reduce its greenhouse-gas pollution to 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. The president took significant actions during his first term to fulfill that promise, and news reports indicate that on Tuesday he will announce the most important step in this effort: reducing carbon pollution from power plants.

For more on this topic, please see:

Moving Forward on Reducing Carbon Pollution by Richard W. Caperton and Daniel J. Weiss

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