President-elect Barack Obama delivered an unexpected video message yesterday to the climate change summit hosted by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in California.
Obama, reaffirmed that he will take quick action to address the United States’ responsibility for global warming and take a leadership role in international negotiations to create a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol.
"We will establish strong annual targets that set us on a course to reduce emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and reduce them by an additional 80 percent by 2050," Obama said in a recorded speech to US governors and representatives from other nations attending the summit.
Although he merely reiterated the position he asserted during the presidential campaign, Obama’s remarks were well timed, following the disappointing news that he would not be attending United Nations-led climate change talks next month in Poland.
He confirmed that he would not attend the negotiations in Poznan, Poland, but said he has asked several members of Congress, who will be in attendance, to report back to him.
"My presidency will mark a new chapter in America’s leadership on climate change that will strengthen our security and create millions of new green jobs in the process," he said.
"Once I take office, you can be sure that the United States will once again engage vigorously in these negotiations and help lead the world toward a new era of global cooperation on climate change," Obama said.
His comments are reassuring in light of recent reports suggesting climate change may fall down the priority ladder, as a result of the nation’s financial woes.
Commenting on the significance of Obama’s video address, Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, said in a statement: "With today’s call for action on global warming, President-elect Obama has kicked the gears of change into motion."
Loading...