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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Obama , his speech ,some comment

The Guardian puts together some initial comment on the Presidents speech in an article today.
Here is a link for you to read it for yourself;  http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2013/jun/25/obama-climate-speech-expert-verdict

The contributors are :

Nicholas Stern, Grantham Institute.
"I am glad that the president chose to close his speech with an appeal to young people to make the case and to press politicians for action. Our generation will be judged by the inheritance we leave."

Christiana Figueres,  UN.

"President Obama's climate action plan is a necessary next step to meet an immediate, worrying shortfall in action to deal with climate change and can be a critical move forward on the path towards a new, global climate agreement. It remains vital that the United States as the world's largest developed economy is seen to be leading serious action to deal with climate change, both at home and abroad. These new steps will help to meet those goals, if they are implemented to the fullest extent to which they are intended.

It is significant that the new plan aims to start up rapidly and covers the full menu of solutions to climate change: clean energy, renewable energy, energy efficiency and the many actions that all countries need to take to adapt to accelerating climate change. This climate action plan should be positive for the US economy and the economies of other countries, as the US shifts faster towards a sustainable, low carbon model, including addressing directly the heaviest sources of emissions from unmodified coal and gas plants."

Bob Ward, Grantham Institute.
"President Obama's excellent speech laid out very clearly the choice that the American people face. A high-carbon economy and unmanaged global warming will create increasing risks from rising sea levels and changes in extreme weather, fundamentally undermining the prospects for future prosperity. But investing in a transition to a low-carbon economy offers a more secure and sustainable source of growth."

Jessy Tolkan, 350.org
"I've waited four years and 158 days to hear the president give this kind of speech on climate change. This is the kind of leadership my generation expected when we first elected, and then re-elected President Obama to office. This speech has been a long- and hard-time coming, but the president's plan outlines meaningful action that begins to meet our global and moral responsibility to address climate change. It's refreshing to see this second-term president finally step into his administrative powers and take the reigns in this fight."

Van Jones, former White House adviser.
"I think the tables are turning against Keystone. I don't think the president wants to lose his youth base by being a president who is spying on them while cooking the planet with a dumb pipeline that everybody hates. I just don't think he wants to do that."