Obama takes aim at global warning, emissions

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama launched a major second-term drive to combat climate change, bypassing Congress as he seeks to set a cornerstone of his legacy.

Temperatures are rising, sea level is climbing, the Arctic ice is melting and the world is doing far too little to stop it, he warned Tuesday in a speech at Georgetown University — taking off his jacket and wiping his face for visual effect as he spoke outdoors with temperatures on their way to more than 90 degrees (32 Celsius).

"I refuse to condemn your generation and future generations to a planet that's beyond fixing," he said, unveiling his most sweeping plan yet to tackle pollution and global warming by using the executive powers of his office. His announcement followed years of inaction by Congress on the issue, and his plan would not need lawmakers' approval.

At the core of Obama's plan are the first-ever federal controls on new and existing power plants that emit carbon dioxide — heat-trapping gases blamed for global warming. The program also will boost renewable energy production on federal lands, increase efficiency standards and prepare communities to deal with higher temperatures. Obama called for the U.S. to be a global leader in the search for solutions.

But his campaign will face extensive obstacles, including the likelihood that the limits on power plants will be challenged in court.

"There will be legal challenges. No question about that," former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman said. "It's a program that's largely executive. He doesn't need Congress. What that does, of course, is make them madder."

Obama also offered a rare insight into his deliberations on whether to approve the hotly debated Keystone XL oil pipeline, deeming it in U.S. interests only if it doesn't worsen carbon pollution. The pipeline would carry carbon-intensive oil from Canadian tar sands to the Texas Gulf Coast refineries.

The president also mocked those who deny that humans are contributing to the warming of the planet.

"We don't have time for a meeting of the flat-earth society," Obama said.

Four months after a newly re-elected Obama issued lawmakers an ultimatum in his State of the Union speech — "If Congress won't act soon to protect future generations, I will" — impatient environmental activists reveled in Tuesday's news.

"This is the change we have been waiting for," said Michael Brune, who runs the Sierra Club, an environmental group. "Today, President Obama has shown he is keeping his word to future generations."

Republicans called Obama's plan a continuation of his "war on coal" and "war on jobs. The National Association of Manufacturers said the proposals would drive up costs.

Even industry groups that have been friendly to Obama and supportive of his climate goals, such as the Edison Electric Institute, which represents power plants, signaled their apprehension by calling for "achievable compliance limits and deadlines."

Obama said the same arguments have been used in the past when the U.S. has taken other steps to protect the environment.

"That's what they said every time," he said. "And every time, they've been wrong."

Announcing he will allow more renewable energy projects on public lands, Obama set a goal to power the equivalent of 6 million homes by 2020 from sources like wind and solar, effectively doubling the current capacity. His proposals also include new fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty trucks, more aggressive efficiency targets for buildings and appliances and $8 billion in federal loan guarantees to spur innovation.

But by far the most sweeping element is new limits on carbon dioxide pollution from power plants.

Forty percent of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, and one-third of greenhouse gases overall, come from electric power plants, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.

Obama wants the EPA to propose rules for the nation's existing plants by June 2014, then finalize them by June 2015 and implement them by June 2016 — just as the presidential campaign to replace him will be in full swing.

Obama has pledged to work with major polluting countries like China and India to curb emissions, building on an agreement he struck recently with China's leader to phase out hydrofluorocarbons, potent greenhouse gases used in air conditioners and refrigerators. He has also called for an end to U.S. support for public financing for new coal-fired plants overseas, with exemptions in the poorest nations as long as the cleanest technology available in those countries is being used.