President Obama deserves credit and congratulations for spearheading leadership on climate change

[Robb Hirsch]

President Obama stepped up yesterday June 25, 2013 and delivered a speech on human induced climate change that is worthy of commendation and worth a read (check it out at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-25/-we-need-to-act-transcript...). His statement at Georgetown University was not just words or empty promises. He pledged that the US EPA will now act to regulate climate pollution by limiting power plant emissions of carbon dioxide which are the most prevalent and thus most dangerous greenhouse gas. This is an historic step since the Clean Air Act was enacted in 1970 and an important progression after the Supreme Court ruled 6 years ago that Carbon Dioxide should be covered under the act. President Obama also called for doubling our renewable energy by 2020, enlisting the federal government to become more efficient, more prepared to address the harmful impacts of climate change and more active in forging international climate solutions with other countries around the world. 

The President said, "as the world's largest economy and second-largest carbon emitter, as a country with unsurpassed ability to drive innovation and scientific breakthroughs, as the country that people around the world continue to look to in times of crisis, we've got a vital role to play. We can't stand on the sidelines. We've got a unique responsibility...The actions I’ve announced today should send a strong signal to the world that America intends to take bold action to reduce carbon pollution [and] lead by the power of our example."

We have a long way to go and a daunting climate care deficit to crawl out of as a Nation and as a world, but if we make a collective, widespread commitment to lead the transformation necessary, we can temper our impact on the climate and help restore the sources that sustain life on earth which we have put in jeopardy. President Obama's remarks reflecting the US federal government's dedication to solving the climate challenge - with the critical mass of we the people providing the indispensable help - could be a turning point and the beginning of a new era of responsibility in this nation.