President Obama slammed those who are skeptical of the science showing man-made climate change in his State of the Union address, a shot at a Republican-led Congress set on rolling back some of the president’s environmental policies.
The barbs set up a showdown between Congress and a president who has increasingly viewed climate change as one of the issues on which he can leave a legacy.
“No challenge — no challenge — poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change,” Obama said Tuesday, adding later, “I will not let this Congress endanger the health of our children by turning back the clock on our efforts.”
Obama has pledged to reduce U.S. emissions 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. While his administration has proposed a number of regulations and policies to move toward that mark, experts contend more must be done while defending current efforts from being unraveled by Republicans.
Obama took a jab at Republicans in referring to those who responded to questions about whether they believe humans are driving climate change, largely by burning fossil fuels, with “I’m not a scientist.”
“Well, I’m not a scientist, either. But you know what — I know a lot of really good scientists at NASA, and [the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration], and at our major universities. The best scientists in the world are all telling us that our activities are changing the climate,” he said.
Obama’s environmental policies will face resistance from Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and a handful of other GOP lawmakers campaigned on stripping an Environmental Protection Agency proposal that seeks to place carbon emissions limits on power plants, which GOP lawmakers, centrist Democrats and industry groups say will slow the economy.
Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., who has called global warming a “hoax,” cited the Wall Street Journal in calling the power-plant rule “a wealth redistribution scheme being imposed by the president through the EPA.”
“This is the real climate agenda the president chose not to address tonight, ” added Inhofe, the chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee.
But the rule’s supporters, who say it is the most significant action the U.S. has taken to slow climate change, contend it will reduce damage from extreme weather events linked to climate change and save medical costs by taking older, dirtier coal-fired power plants offline.
Environmental groups and liberal Democrats will defend the president’s other environmental policies, including giving him support to strike an international climate deal later this year at United Nations-hosted negotiations in Paris.
“This is a pivotal year for advancing the climate effort both at home and internationally, and the president’s continued leadership is essential on both fronts,” said Bob Perciasepe, a former EPA deputy administrator who is now president of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.
Nations will seek to strike a deal governing emissions beyond 2020 at those talks in hopes of keeping global temperatures from rising 2 degrees Celsius by 2100. Obama said the non-binding pact he signed with Chinese President Xi Jinping to reduce emissions between the world’s top two greenhouse gas polluters gave momentum to the talks.
“I am determined to make sure American leadership drives international action. … And because the world’s two largest economies came together, other nations are now stepping up, and offering hope that, this year, the world will finally reach an agreement to protect the one planet we’ve got,” Obama said.
