President's Climate Action Plan

The Executive Office of the President has released the President's Climate Action Plan, in which President Obama states that "we have a moral obligation to future generations to leave them a planet that is not polluted and damaged."

The world has been experiencing the devastating consequences of inaction on climate change. In the United States, 2012 was "the second most extreme year on record for the nation" with record high temperatures, increasing wildfires, and billions of dollars spent on responding to these environmental issues. These disasters show that "climate change is no longer a distant threat - we are already feeling its impacts across the country and the world. Last year was the warmest year ever in the contiguous United States and about one-third of all Americans experienced 10 days or more of 100-degree heat. The 12 hottest years on record have all come in the last 15 years. Asthma rates have doubled in the past 30 years and our children will suffer more asthma attacks as air pollution gets worse. And increasing floods, heat waves, and droughts have put farmers out of business, which is already raising food prices dramatically."

In order to slow the effects of climate change, the plan put forth by the President consists of three main pillars, including:

1) Cutting carbon pollution in the United States with strict new regulations 2) Preparing the U.S. for the impacts of climate change by strengthening our nation's infrastructure 3) Leading international efforts to combat global climate change by combining domestic action with international leadership

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