Jun 24 2013

Mother Jones: What to Expect From Obama’s Big Climate Speech

Newswire | Published 24 Jun 2013, 10:49 am | Comments Off on Mother Jones: What to Expect From Obama’s Big Climate Speech -

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President Obama will deliver an address on climate change at Georgetown University on Tuesday, outlining, according to the White House, his “vision for a comprehensive plan to reduce carbon pollution, prepare our country for the impacts of climate change, and lead global efforts to fight it.”

Obama tipped his hand on the new plan in a video announcement on Saturday, noting that climate change “is a serious challenge, but it’s one uniquely suited to America’s strengths.”

He pledged action on climate change in his campaign in 2008, but the effort to pass a bill died in the Senate in 2010. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did take regulatory action on climate-changing emissions in his first term, including increasing the fuel economy of automobiles and the first-ever rules on greenhouse gases from new power plants. But environmentalists were frustrated by what they saw as an unwillingness by Obama himself to make a strident push for comprehensive action on climate change.

Then Obama made climate change a major focal point in his second inaugural address in January, declaring that “the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.” His speech Tuesday is the follow-up to that promise.

There has been lots of speculation about what might be in the plan. It’s pretty clear that the focus will be executive and regulatory actions, since Congress is deadlocked on this issue (and most House Republicans still don’t even think it’s a real problem). Here are four things that are expected to be included:

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