Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Elections Have Consequences

This, evidenced by President Obama's speech at the UN this morning on climate change.
Speaking to UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon's climate change summit this morning, President Obama spoke of the progress the U.S. has made on sustainable energy, but warned, "We did not come here to celebrate progress. We came because there's so much more progress to be made, so much more work to be done."

Speaking of the world as a whole, he said, "The hardest part of our journey is still ahead of us."

He pointed out American efforts to reign in greenhouse gases, including initiatives to capture carbon, build off-shore wind farms, phase out subsidies for fossil fuel and tracking, for the first time, how much greenhouse gas pollution the country is creating. He also urged fellow leaders of industrialized nations to help poorer countries fight climate change and create low-impact development.

"We understand the gravity of the climate threat," he said.

Obama looked forward to December's international climate change summit in Copenhagen. "We must seize the opportunity to make Copenhagen a significant step forward in the fight against climate change."

America is well behind the curve after eight years of Republicans pretending climate change doesn't exist. It's time for us to catch up and actually lead on this issue, and Obama seems dedicated to this cause, as he should be.

It's also time for the Senate to move on legislation, pass it like the House did, and get it on Obama's desk.

3 comments:

Matt Osborne said...

Waxman-Markey won't pass without considerable teabagging on the way there.

Anonymous said...

America is well behind the curve after eight years of Republicans pretending...

you can finish that sentence with just about anything - doesn't have to be climate change. i can think of about 100 topics just off the top of my head.

just glad i do not have any children to explain those 8 years of nightmare to. jeebus.

Zandar said...

Didn't say it was going to be easy. hell, it probably won't pass, too many big energy/big farm Democrats are going to cave to industry pressure. After all, it's who they serve, not us.

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