During a speech at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference this Monday, former President Barack Obama went directly after the Trump administration for their recklessness regarding climate change-related issues — and Obama also laid out an optimistic vision for the future, based on both the ability of Americans to push through the Trump administration’s climate obstruction and the new era represented by the beginning of the Biden administration. The Biden team has already taken significant steps to turn back the environmental damage left by the Trump administration. For instance, they’ve begun the process to re-institute federal oversight over a broader array of U.S. waterways. The range of such waterways under federal supervision was shortened under Trump.
Examples of the Trump administration’s malfeasance regarding environmental issues went on from there. At one point, Trump straightforwardly said that he simply did not believe a report on the looming impacts of climate change produced by his own administration. At the U.N. conference, Obama commented as follows:
‘Back in the United States, of course, some of our progress stalled when my successor decided to unilaterally pull out of the Paris agreement in his first year in office. I wasn’t real happy about that. And yet, the determination of our state and local governments, along with the regulations and investment that my administration had already put in place, allowed our country to keep moving forward, despite hostility from the White House. The $90 billion investment that we made in 2009 helped to jump-start the clean energy industry in the United States, and markets adapted, and so did consumers. And even when the Trump administration rolled back emissions requirements for automakers, along with regulatory changes and efficiency standards, many businesses chose to stay the course.’
Check out Obama’s remarks below:
“Some of our progress stalled when my successor decided to unilaterally pull out of the Paris Agreement in his first year in office,” former Pres. Obama says during remarks at #COP26 climate summit. “I wasn’t real happy about that.” https://t.co/x78XgVL0BB pic.twitter.com/HW8dOS4CX3
— ABC News (@ABC) November 8, 2021
The bipartisan infrastructure deal that was recently passed by the House and sent to Biden for his signature includes tens of billions of dollars in financial support for U.S. communities dealing with the devastating impacts of climate-related disasters, and more funding along the lines of dealing with climate change is set for inclusion in the broader social spending package under development by Democratic leaders and negotiators. Obama added as follows:
‘Despite four years of active hostility toward climate science coming from the very top of our federal government, the American people managed to still meet our original commitment under the Paris agreement. And not only that, but the rest of the world stayed in the deal.’
Check out those comments below:
“In the US alone more than 3m people now work in clean energy… more than the number of people currently employed by the entire fossil fuel industry”
Barack Obama says US is ready for "leadership role" despite four years of "active hostility"#COP26BBC https://t.co/7mIAUhId52 pic.twitter.com/xvkHRmgAU9
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) November 8, 2021
Watch Obama’s full remarks in the video below:
