Obama On: Climate Change

Obama: No greater threat to future than climate change
By: Madison Park
Source: CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/21/us/climate-change-us-obama/

     In his recent State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama made it a point to emphasize that the most extensive problem in, not only the United States but the world as a whole, is the continuous affect that climate change is having on it. Aside from his undeniable placement of significance on the issue, many either remain ambivalent or oppose it firmly. He, however, took it into his hands to state the need for change, to protect "the one planet we've got" (Park, 1). Through his use of logos with an underlying hint of pathos, Obama stated facts such as the year 2014 being the warmest year since the advent of record keeping, as well as the concern that fourteen out of the fifteen recorded warmest years have been from the start of the year 2000. Throughout the years, the United States cannot say it has done its part in reducing the adverse effects of climate change, refusing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol (working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions) as well as failing to handle carbon cuts. Under Obama, however, an agreement with China has been made between both countries (being the two most air-polluting countries in the world, with US falling second to China) claiming to work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout the next twenty years. In his speech, Obama mentioned the effects of this act as encouragement for other countries to take part and make a change within their own nations. By placing a key focus on climate change, Obama has shifted concerns not only to where the US and the world as a whole stands now in present times, but where it will stand throughout the upcoming decades and generations to come.