Washington, DC — In this week’s address, President Obama discussed the progress we have made to combat global climate change. During the Obama Administration, we have made ambitious investments in clean energy and achieved reductions in carbon emissions – increasing wind power and solar power, and decreasing the amount of carbon pollution from our energy sector to its lowest level in 25 years.
- The President noted that although America has become a global leader in the fight against climate change, there’s still work to do
- President Obama said if we continue to work together, we will leave a better, cleaner, safer future for our children.
- According to the address, standards to increase the distance cars and light trucks can travel on a gallon of gas every year through 2025, stating that together, we must contine to work domestically and build upon the progress we’ve made along with other countries
- This includes the Paris Agreement, which was the most ambitious climate change agreement in history
KEY POINTS
- We know that 2015 surpassed 2014 as the warmest year on record – and 2016 is on pace to be even hotter
- In parts of America, these clean power sources are finally cheaper than dirtier, conventional power
- At a time when we’ve seen auto sales surge, manufacturers are innovating and bringing new technology to market faster than expected
- We’ll take steps to meet the goal we set with Canada and Mexico to achieve 50 percent clean power across North America by 2025
- Over 100 cars, SUVs, and pick-up trucks on the market today already meet our vehicles standards ahead of schedule
- We’ve seen a boom in the plug-in electric vehicle market – with more models, lower battery costs, and more than 16,000 charging stations