The United States is committed to finding a global solution to the threat of climate change and its impact on our planet. "We have reached the first point in history where the impact of everyday human activities is affecting the health of our entire planet," said U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson at the United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen.
The Obama Administration is taking this threat seriously. In an article for the International Herald Tribune, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote that "It is time to launch a broad operational accord on climate change that will set us on a new course."
The Obama administration has done more in the U.S. to promote clean energy and address climate change than ever before in our history, wrote Secretary of State Clinton. Secretary Clinton added that the Administration has also worked hard to engage partners around the world in the fight against climate change, but more cooperation is needed in this common effort.
"All major economies, developed and developing, need to take robust and transparent action to reduce their carbon emissions. ... The actions required of the developed and major developing countries will not be identical, but we must all do our part. ... The fact is that nearly all of the growth in emissions in the next 20 years will come from the developing world."
As an example of our common effort to address climate change, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced on December 14th the Renewables and Efficiency Deployment Initiative, or Climate REDI. Through Climate REDI, the United States and other major economies will help provide developing countries easier access to clean and renewable energy technology, financing, and improved information sharing. Member countries have pledged to contribute toward the plan three-hundred fifty million dollars over five years, of which at least eighty-five million dollars will be provided by the U.S.
"Our world is on an unsustainable path that threatens not only our environment, but our economies and our security," wrote Secretary Clinton. "It is time to launch a broad operational accord on climate change that will set us on a new course."
