In a major speech Tuesday at Georgetown University, President Barack Obama declared that his administration would be taking new and far-reaching steps to curb the release of greenhouse gasses and other pollutants that cause climate change.
“As a president, as a father and as an American, I’m here to say we need to act,” Obama said.
Obama announced he was directing his administration to launch the first-ever federal regulations on heat-trapping gases emitted by new and existing power plants — “to put an end to the limitless dumping of carbon pollution.”
In response, the Atlanta-based Center for Sustainable Communities released the following statement.
We are excited about the President’s speech on yesterday calling for a new approach to climate change.
His approach includes tougher implementation of policies at the state level including the Clean Air Act, increased use of clean energy technologies and natural gas, enhancing vehicle technologies and standards, curbing sources of emissions in developing nations, making our communities more “weather ready”; and through aggressive research and development and use of science.
We HTS/CSC applaud the President’s “Call to Action” and stand behind him. Much of our work we do on a daily basis was outlined in his speech.
For example, enhancing building efficiency through our Institute for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy by assisting such initiatives such as the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge and implementation of advance vehicle technologies ( charging station infrastructure) through our Carver Fuels initiative; energy and climate education activities through the Southeast Energy Education Initiative (SEEI), through research and development at the Energy Horizons Laboratory Research and Development Center, use of the Advance Atmospheric Monitoring and Research and Development Station to measure urban pollutants and contaminants, and retrofitting and designing and constructing clean energy technology power plants through Energy Horizons Power Generation Services.
Moreover, the development of methods to help sustain our communities through the Center for Sustainable Communities involvement in climate change adaptation studies for lower income communities with the US Forest Service and with the Weather Ready Atlanta project sponsored by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the American Metrological Society. Finally, through our SMART Academy Center of Excellence informing and creating lessons for our youth in climate education through activities such as the High Altitude Research Platform (HARP)
Our proposed Center for Energy, Infrastructure and Renewable Technologies (CEIRT) will educate and prepare a workforce for build and operate clean energy technologies and harden our infrastructure.
Our recent selection to the Institute for Georgia Environmental Leadership (IGEL), Regional Leadership Institute and Al Core’s Climate Reality Leadership Corps also underscore our genuine commitment and credibility in this sector.
We will now move forward at an even greater pace on a daily basis to firmly establish ourselves as a global leader in energy engineering and building healthier and stronger sustainable communities. This will ensure that generations to come will enjoy a rich, bountiful and precious planet we call Earth through the “Care of Creation.”
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