Posted on 04/21/2011 7:07:41 AM PDT by Qbert
President Obama called out Capitol Hill’s “climate change deniers” Wednesday night at a Democratic fundraiser in California.
Obama, speaking at a San Francisco event for donors, called rising gasoline prices an economic drain on drivers and said curbing oil reliance is a “national security imperative.”
“And then there’s the environmental aspect of it. There are climate change deniers in Congress and when the economy gets tough, sometimes environmental issues drop from people’s radar screens,” Obama continued, speaking at the home of Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff.
“But I don’t think there’s any doubt that unless we are able to move forward in a serious way on clean energy that we’re putting our children and our grandchildren at risk,” Obama added.
Obama also talked climate during his appearance at Facebook’s Palo Alto headquarters earlier in the day, listing it among the challenges facing the nation.
“Internationally, we're seeing the sorts of changes that we haven't seen in a generation. We've got certain challenges like energy and climate change that no one nation can solve but we're going to have to solve together,” Obama said. “And we don't yet have all the institutions that are in place in order to do that.”
Climate change has been on and off the menu in Obama’s remarks on energy this year, and some environmentalists want a more robust White House stance on the issue.
His State of the Union Speech in January lacked any mention of climate change or global warming or greenhouse gases. It referred to the issue obliquely, noting that boosting clean energy is needed to “protect our planet.”
The issue made a roaring comeback in Obama’s high-profile March 30 speech on energy at Georgetown University, when climate and carbon garnered a half-dozen references in wide-ranging remarks about energy security.
“The only way for America’s energy supply to be truly secure is by permanently reducing our dependence on oil. We’re going to have to find ways to boost our efficiency so we use less oil. We’ve got to discover and produce cleaner, renewable sources of energy that also produce less carbon pollution, which is threatening our climate,” he said.
The comments come as the White House is trying to politically recalibrate its energy and climate agenda following the collapse of cap-and-trade legislation on Capitol Hill last year – legislation that’s a non-starter in the current Congress.
Capitol Hill Republicans and some Democrats are trying to kill or delay the Environmental Protection Agency’s climate change regulations.
Obama, for his part, is no longer advocating for emissions-capping legislation. Instead he’s pushing for a “clean energy standard” that would require utilities to greatly expand electricity from low-carbon sources in coming decades (a plan that faces big hurdles in Congress).
Obama’s also calling for increases in clean energy R&D spending, planning continued boosts in auto fuel economy rules, and preparing first-time mileage standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks, among other goals in the White House energy blueprint.
Obama addressed rising gasoline prices at the San Francisco event Benioff hosted, even while acknowledging that donors at the $35,800-per-plate event weren’t personally struggling with costs at the pump.
“Right now we’ve got $4-a-gallon gas, and most of the people under this tent don’t have to worry about that. But for the average person who has to drive 50 miles to work and can’t afford to buy the Tesla, it’s hammering them. It’s hurting them,” Obama said, according to a White House transcript that notes the Tesla comment drew laughter.
Tesla Motors is a California-based company that makes an electric sports car that sells for over $100,000, while the sedan Tesla plans to make available next year is about half that price.
Obama added:
“So there’s a huge economic imperative. There’s a national security imperative, as well, because we see what’s happening in the Middle East and we understand that a finite resource that is primarily located in a very unstable part of the world is not good for our long-term future.”
Dipsh*t is behind the curve again - it's approaching $5-a-gallon in some states. As for the future for our children and grandchildren, he has already stolen it!
Oh, the climate is changing alright.
It’s getting COLDER
Hey Obummer, wake up and smell the coffe. The people who put you in the office have silently folded their tent.
How can successful business people suck up to this phony? He is anathema to business, to entrepreneurship, to job growth and economic development. He sits next to them and attacks millionaires and billionaires. They can't be so stupid as to not realize this.... can they?
I want my darn global warming. Last night was our first golf league night. Knit caps, gloves, and 45* at tee off.
Moron communist greenies.
“But I don’t think there’s any doubt that unless we are able to move forward in a serious way on clean energy that we’re putting our children and our grandchildren at risk,” Obama added.
What’s this nitwit think is going to happen to our children and grandchildren when his economic policies send our economy to he!!?
Unless he is shown the door in '12, or sooner, I'm afraid there won't be much left to save.
Nut-job “warmer”.
“They can’t be so stupid as to not realize this.... can they?”
Access to the president is quite valuable. Look what it’s done for GE and Jeff Immelt. Obama can spout all the Marxist crap he wants, but he loves crony capitalism, and those close to him benefit from that.
More hot air from the lazy doofus. I’ll bet he’s never read anything about global warming pro or con.
The good news is that cap and trade is dead. The bad news is that it has been replaced by a 20 year plan. A comparable plan would be http://www.emayzine.com/lectures/STALIN.html The solution for Stalin was to collectivize agriculture, forcing the peasants into communes, destroying the kulaks, controlling agricultural output, and fixing the prices of wages and food.
OTOH, Stalinobama knows that it is a lot easier to control energy and that will destroy the middle class and American way of life a lot faster.
They have gone from global cooling to global warming to climate change. They don’t have to make up there minds about the truth when they call it climate change. Yes, our climate changes, it’s normal. They are just, once again, looking for ways to pick our pockets, control our lives, and help companies (GE) who support them politically. It’s too bad the number of people who will buy into their lies because they worship a false idol.
In California, the "next big thing" is "gaming the system". Naturally that requires a lot of consensual reality....
I hope it is state sponsored, they just tell the feds to pound sand and let the drillers, drill.
Eventually prices will drop and people who need and want jobs will be working.
It is obvious the feds will only obstruct any real energy production.
Ping!
The loon would flunk a basic algebra course and would think that a C02 absorption curve had something to do with his wife’s clothes.
He is beyond stupid.
“How can successful business people suck up to this phony? He is anathema to business, to entrepreneurship, to job growth and economic development. He sits next to them and attacks millionaires and billionaires. They can’t be so stupid as to not realize this.... can they?”
—Crony capitalism.
They use their donations to crush rivals with special favors and contracts from the government. They keep making more (think GE) while everybody else suffers.
$6 dollar gas Gomer! $6!
The Kenyan’s “no energy” policy will get the blame.
Good. One more thing.
“The country is on the skids and our fearless, one track mind leader is still gung-ho on windmills, electric cars and ‘saving the planet’.”
It’s all about saying the right environmental buzz words to make insecure trust fund babies cough up campaign donations. Barry’s goal of getting a billion dollars is far more important than a suffering populace.
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