President Obama Aims to Address Climate Change with Historic Regulations (Video)

President Obama has taken major steps towards fulfilling his responsibilities as Commander-in-Chief in recent months. Repealing the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy and allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the armed forces; supporting the legalization of gay marriage across all 50 states, a decision supported by the Supreme Court in June; the Affordable Care Act, providing healthcare to millions of previously uninsured American citizens; and his most recent act of putting forth a progressive plan to address climate change are just a few of the President’s progressive legislative achievements.

Collectively known as the “Clean Power Plan,” the latest set of regulations set forth by the White House aim to take drastic steps towards cutting back on harmful emissions, particularly the pollution created by power plants. According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) official website, the Clean Power Plan is “a historic and important step in reducing carbon pollution from power plants that takes real action on climate change.” What makes the regulations historic is their unprecedented nature; never before have regulations been placed on carbon emissions from power plants, according to Mic.

In his official announcement, President Obama discussed the White House’s new plan, explaining that “climate change is no longer just about the future that we’re predicting for our children or our grand-children; it’s about the reality that we’re living with every day, right now.” He goes on to cite “stronger storms, deeper droughts, longer wildfire seasons” and the fact that “shrinking ice caps forced National Geographic to make the biggest change to its atlas since the Soviet Union broke apart”  as evidence that climate change is having real-time effects on the weather that can no longer go unaddressed.

The announcement comes just months ahead of November’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, where the United States is expected to participate in a discussion about reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and based on Obama’s recent initiatives, the country is well on its way to becoming a global leader in the fight against climate change. Check out his nearly 30-minute address above.

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