and must be addressed now!!!
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio and
President Obama had starring roles Tuesday as they implored more than 120 world
leaders to do their part to fight global warming.
Addressing the Climate
Change Summit at the United Nations, they called global warming an undeniable
threat that must immediately be addressed by every nation.
“No one can stand on the
sidelines,” Obama said “We can only succeed in combating climate change if we
are joined in this effort by every nation, developed and developing alike.
Nobody gets a pass.”
He added, “We cannot condemn
our children, and their children, to a future that is beyond their capacity to
repair.”
A bearded DiCaprio spoke
earlier, telling the gathering, “I pretend for a living. But you do not. The
people made their voices heard (at protests) on Sunday around the world and the
momentum will not stop. And now it’s your turn.”
It was the largest gathering
ever of world leaders to discuss climate change.
The one-day meeting, held on
the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, was supposed to lay the groundwork
for a new global treaty to tackle climate change next year.
Together, the countries
pledged to spend at least $5 billion, and take other steps, to make the world
more sustainable. But none of the promises are binding.
UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon, former Vice President Al Gore and DiCaprio, among others, argued that
time was short.
DiCaprio, who has given
millions of dollars to environmental causes, said “the scientific community has
spoken” and “if we do not act together, we will surely perish.
“As an actor, I pretend for
a living. I play fictitious characters often solving fictitious problems,” he
said.
“I believe humankind has
looked at climate change in that same way: as if it were a fiction, happening
to someone else’s planet, as if pretending that climate change wasn’t real
would somehow make it go away,” he said.
“But ... every week, we’re
seeing new and undeniable climate events, evidence that accelerated climate
change is here now.”
Obama has faced fierce
opposition to his environmental proposals, including his plan to reduce
power-plant emissions, known as cap-and-trade, which stalled in the Senate.
Still, he cast himself and
the U.S. as a leader in the fight against global warming.
He has taken a series of
executive actions to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. These include
raising the fuel efficiency standards of American cars and trucks, phasing out
a coolant used in air conditioners, and curbing emissions from coal-fired power
plants.
“Over the past eight years,
the United States has reduced our total carbon pollution by more than any other
nation on Earth,” Obama said.
He used the speech to
announce some modest new measures to address global warming. These include
requiring federal agencies to consider climate resilience as they invest in
international development programs.
“There is no question that
the United States of America is stepping up to the plate,” Obama said. “We
recognize our role in creating this problem. We embrace our responsibility to
combat it. We will do our part.”
He singled out China, saying
the most populous nation on Earth must join with the rest of the world to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Unlike many other world leaders, Chinese
President Xi Jinping did not attend, sending a lower-level representative
instead.
“We have a responsibility to
lead,” Obama said. “That’s what big nations have to do.”
Mayor de Blasio also spoke,
calling global warming an “existential crisis” threatening humanity as he urged
other leaders to follow the city’s shrinking carbon footprint.
“The cause is us — how we
heat our homes, how we transport ourselves, the reckless way in which we live,”
he said in a three-minute speech.
It was part of a one-two
punch by de Blasio on the global stage, hiking his profile as a spokesman for
progressive issues. On Wednesday, he appears before the annual meeting of
Britain’s Labor Party in Manchester, England, to talk about income
inequality.
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