President: Climate change steps are making a difference
WASHINGTON – Appealing for patience and perseverance from environmental activists, President Barack Obama claimed progress Wednesday in his second-term drive to combat climate change but said more must be done to address a generational problem.
One year after unveiling an aggressive plan, Obama highlighted emissions limits on power plants, expanded renewable energy projects and new incentives for green technology as steps he said have built momentum in the United States and abroad, despite steadfast opposition from much of Congress.
“We’re moving, and it’s making a difference,” Obama said. “It’s not instantaneous. We’ve got to sometimes cut these things into pieces.”
Obama’s remarks at an annual dinner for the League of Conservation Voters marked a progress report for his climate plan, which the president laid out with much fanfare at a speech last June at Georgetown University. Twelve months later, his administration has started carrying out many of the steps he announced, even though the most ambitious parts of the plan will take years to be fully realized.
The United States. must do more, Obama said, to deal with what he deemed a “generational issue.” But the president also said that small steps the U.S. has taken, when added up, have a broader impact.
“When you take those first steps, even if they’re hard, and even if there are politics sometimes, you start building momentum and you start mobilizing larger and larger communities,” Obama said. “Every step makes a difference.”