Addressing future generations, Barack Obama chose Georgetown Campus to launch his Climate Change plan on Tuesday June 25th 2013. This is what I took from it.
First and foremost he addressed the young generation. Later stating “I refuse to condemn your generation and future generations to a planet that’s beyond fixing. And that’s why, today, I’m announcing a new national climate action plan, and I’m here to enlist your generation’s help”
He stated some realities. “Farmers see crops wilted one year, washed away the next; and the higher food prices get passed on to you, the … consumer”
He quoted the facts “The 12 warmest years in recorded history have all come in the last 15 years. Last year, temperatures in some areas of the ocean reached record highs, and ice in the Arctic shrank to its smallest size on record — faster than most models had predicted it would. These are facts.”
He asked the obvious. “So the question now is whether we will have the courage to act before it’s too late. And how we answer will have a profound impact on the world that we leave behind not just to you, but to your children and to your grandchildren.”
He spoke as a father. “As a President, as a father, and as an American, I’m here to say we need to act.”
He revealed his plan. “this is my plan to meet it — a plan to cut carbon pollution; a plan to protect our country from the impacts of climate change; and a plan to lead the world in a coordinated assault on a changing climate. This plan begins with cutting carbon pollution by changing the way we use energy — using less dirty energy, using more clean energy, wasting less energy throughout our economy.”
He posed the economic opportunities. “it will require all of us to do our part. We’ll need scientists to design new fuels, and we’ll need farmers to grow new fuels. We’ll need engineers to devise new technologies, and we’ll need businesses to make and sell those technologies. We’ll need workers to operate assembly lines that hum with high-tech, zero-carbon components, but we’ll also need builders to hammer into place the foundations for a new clean energy era.”
My opinion. Obama delivered a powerfully inspiring speech. Whether or not he delivers the actions to match remains to be seen. To me that is not the most important outcome. He has validated all of the people, especially the young people, who have been knocking on closed doors for too long. He has given them the opportunity to bring about change. He has put the deniers in the corner and turned on the escalator to the transition away from fossil fuels. The steps needed will move faster, not because the administration will act, but because the change makers have been empowered and invited to help.
As a mother of 5 that gives me hope.
- Obamas speech http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2013/06/25/president-obama-speaks-climate-change
- Reaction from American youth movement, iMatter http://hosted-p0.vresp.com/884591/becb3b2fd0/ARCHIVE
Theresa Carter – June 27, 2013
TheresaOD.com 
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