Here’s Obama’s New Plan to Deal With Climate Change

In a speech in Washington today, President Barack Obama unveiled a plan to deal with climate change, one that focuses on reducing emissions from the energy sector, building up the nation’s renewable energy and increasing energy efficiency. It also calls for the country to prepare for the impacts of climate change, like rising sea levels, and for the U.S. to become a leader in addressing increasing carbon emissions.

And for the first time, Obama is proposing to limit carbon emissions from existing power plants, which is sure to generate controversy in Texas, with a large fleet of aging coal power plants and state officials ready to fight federal regulation at every turn.

The plan says:

“… Climate change is no longer a distant threat – we are already feeling its impacts across the country and the world. Last year was the warmest year ever in the contiguous United States and about one-third of all Americans experienced 10 days or more of 100-degree heat. The 12 hottest years on record have all come in the last 15 years. Asthma rates have doubled in the past 30 years and our children will suffer more asthma attacks as air pollution gets worse. And increasing floods, heat waves, and droughts have put farmers out of business, which is already raising food prices dramatically. These changes come with far-reaching consequences and real economic costs.”

You can read the 21-page plan in full after the jump: