the big climate speech: why tackling climate change is one of america's greatest economic...

PRESIDENT OBAMA on CLIMATE CHANGEGeorgetown University

Washington, DC

June 25, 2013

presented by Denise EvansVice President, Market DevelopmentIBM Corporation

What is Climate Change?

• Any significant change in the measures of climate lasting for an extended period of time

• Caused by human expansion of “the greenhouse effect”

Gases that contribute to the Greenhouse Effect

• Water Vapor• Carbon Dioxide• Methane• Nitrous Oxide• Chlorofluorocarbons

(CFCs)

The Effects of Climate Change in 2012

The Costs of Extreme Weather

Plan to Reduce Carbon Pollution • Reduce Carbon Pollution from

Power Plants– EPA to establish new carbon pollution

standards for both new and existing power plants

• Accelerate Clean Energy Leadership

– Set goal to double wind and solar electricity, again, by 2020

– Fiscal Year 2014 budget increasing funding for clean energy technology across all agencies by 30%

– Interior Department to green light enough private, renewable electricity generation on public lands to power more than 6 million homes by 2020

– Department of Defense committed to install 3 gigawatts of renewable power on its bases by 2025

• Build a 21st Century Transportation Sector

– Add to car and truck fuel standards, standards for heavy-duty trucks, buses and vans

– Partner with truck makers to set fuel standards for next gen vehicles

• Cut Energy Waste in Homes, Businesses and Factories

– New energy standards for appliances like refrigerators and dishwashers

• Reduce other Greenhouse Gas Emissions

– The EPA and Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Interior, Labor and Transportation to develop and implement comprehensive, interagency methane strategy by 2020

• More Energy Efficient Federal Government Buildings

– Federal Government will consume 20% of its electricity from renewable sources within the next seven years.

Preparing the U.S. for Impacts of Climate Change

• Supporting climate resilient investments• Rebuilding and learning from Superstorm Sandy• Launching efforts to create sustainable and

resilient hospitals• Maintaining agricultural productivity• Providing tools for climate resilience

Technology and Climate Change

• Wind, solar, and geothermal renewable energy generation

• Clean nuclear power plant approved in Burke, Georgia

• Federally supported new oil drilling technologies

All Figures and Charts retrieved from www.whitehouse.gov/share/climate-action-plan

Clean Energy Research & Development

• In 2009, the Administration funded the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)

• The Administration has also launched a series of clean energy innovation hubs

Progress Made• In 2013 Climate Change plans

were adopted for the first time

• Interactive and sea-level rise maps released to aid in rebuilding efforts after Superstorm Sandy

• The production of more domestic oil while also producing more cleaner-burning natural gas than any other country on Earth

"I refuse to condemn your generation and future

generations to a planet that’s beyond fixing"

-President Barack Obama