President Barack Obama antagonises Republicans as he unveils ambitious clean power plan
Framing climate change as one of the most pressing challenge the world faces, President Barack Obama has unveiled what he called “the single most important step America has ever taken in the fight against global climate change.”
The goal of the plan, which has been two years in the making, is to cut greenhouse gas emissions from US power stations by almost by 32 per cent from 2005 levels by 2013.
"No challenge poses a greater threat to our future and future generations than a change in climate," Obama said:
There is such a thing as being too late.
Despite this, opponents of the plan have labelled the move a “war on coal” and the plan faces legal challenges. It has been cast by Republicans as over-regulation that will cost jobs and increase energy bills, and they have vowed to reverse it if elected.
Read more: US power sector hits back at Barack Obama’s tough climate change rules
The President set aside these concerns and said the idea of setting standards and cutting carbon pollution is not new and not radical. “What is new is Washington is starting to catch up with the vision of the rest of the country,” he said.
However, Jeb Bush, current Republican Presidential nominee hopeful, has said “the rule runs over state governments, will throw countless people out of work, and increases everyone's energy prices.”
Wisconsin Governor, and competitor of Jeb Bush for the Republican nomination, has likewise said the project will “cost hard working Americans jobs and raise their energy rates.”
Meanwhile Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton pledged on Sunday she would build on the plan and defended it against “Republican doubters and defeatists."
And with most Republicans arguing against the plan and Democrats in favour, it has now become a partisan issue in the build up to the 2016 Presidential election.
Obama wants to go a step further later this year, as delegates from the US will be part of the United Nations climate change conference in Paris, where the President hopes to secure a global treaty.