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New U.S. View on Global Warming
President Barack Obama moves quickly on energy, climate policies. To view the article in magazine format,
Please click here for the PDF File  Climate change is a planetary process, but its effects-sea level rise, shrinking glaciers, changes in plant and animal distribution, early-blooming trees, permafrost thaws-are regional and local. Some of the effects are already occurring, and the Barack Obama administration is moving fast to put the United States in a leadership position to work with other nations and meet the challenges of climate change and energy security. "For the sake of our security, our economy and our planet, we must have the courage and commitment to change. It will be the policy of my administration to reverse our dependence on foreign oil, while building a new energy economy that will create millions of jobs," President Obama said before signing two related presidential memorandums in his first week in office. "We hold no illusion about the task that lies ahead. I cannot promise a quick fix; no single technology or set of regulations will get the job done. But we will commit ourselves to steady, focused, pragmatic pursuit of an America that is free from our energy dependence and empowered by a new energy economy that puts millions of our citizens to work," he said. In what he called "a down payment on a broader and sustained effort to reduce our dependence on foreign oil," President Obama directed the U.S. Department of Transportation to establish higher fuel efficiency standards for American cars. The second memo directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider a petition by California to set more stringent limits for greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles than those set by the federal government. "We will make it clear to the world that America is ready to lead," President Obama said. The president said he views America as part of a global coalition whose members work together to protect the global climate and collective security. He said other large economies such as China and India must do their part to limit greenhouse gas emissions, "just as we are now willing to do ours." In the first memorandum, President Obama directed the Department of Transportation to set new fuel-economy standards by March for 2011 car models. In 2007, the U.S. Congress passed legislation to raise the average fuel-economy standard to 15.1 kilometers per liter for each auto fleet by 2020 at the latest. An auto fleet is the group of passenger cars produced by each automaker. The legislation had not been implemented. President Obama's order would give automakers 18 months to get ready for the change. "Our goal is not to further burden an already struggling industry. It is to help America's automakers prepare for the future," he said. The president also acted to remove a regulatory obstacle that prevented California and more than a dozen other U.S. states from having stricter auto emission standards than the national government. In the second memorandum, he instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider a request by California and allow it to impose its own strict limits on auto carbon dioxide emissions, which are believed to contribute to global warming. "Instead of serving as a partner, Washington stood in their way," Obama said. "The days of Washington dragging its heels are over." California's plan to cut emissions by 30 percent by 2016 is the most ambitious effort by any state or federal authority to address global warming. Obama said the United States will not delay action due to tough economic conditions. Promoting climate-friendly renewable energy, he said, will actually stimulate the ailing U.S. economy and reduce demand for oil imports. "America will not be held hostage to dwindling resources, hostile regimes, and a warming planet," he said. "We will not be put off from action because action is hard. Now is the time to make the tough choices. Now is the time to meet the challenge at this crossroad of history by choosing a future that is safer for our country, prosperous for our planet, and sustainable." From the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs. |
