President Obama said he hopes cooler heads will prevail in a new administration when it comes to the survival of his climate change deals with other countries.
“It’s not as if work we are doing on the Arctic, or entry and exit visas, vanishes when the next president comes in,” Obama said Thursday in a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The president and Trudeau spent the morning at the White House announcing a new climate change agreement between the two countries that emphasizes work in the Arctic as well as new regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. Many scientists blame greenhouse gases such as carbon monoxide and methane for driving manmade climate change.
“When there’s turnover in governments, the work that has been done continues, particularly when you have a close friendship and relationship with a partner like Canada,” Obama said.
“Of course, I intend to make sure that the next president who comes in agrees with me on everything,” he added. “Just in case that doesn’t happen, the U.S.-Canadian relationship will be fine.
“As someone who came in after an administration that politically, obviously, saw things very differently than I did, what you discover is that for all the differences you may have in your political parties, when you’re actually in charge, then you have to be practical,” he said.
“You do what is needed to be done and what is in front of you,” the president said.
Obama said one of the most important things for a country to do is to “live up to its commitments” and provide momentum on efforts “even if they didn’t start under your administration.”
He said he continued former President George W. Bush’s policies on eradicating HIV Aids in Africa. “You’re always concerned about making sure that the credibility of the United States is sustained.”
