According to the White House, the president will frame dealing with climate change as a moral responsibility to leave the earth in good shape for generations to come.
The speech will be delivered at 1:35 p.m. EST and can be view on the White House website.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/live
Materials distributed to the press in advance of the address outline what the administration is billing as a comprehensive plan built on three pillars:
As part of that effort, the president will sign a memorandum directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to start engaging with states, the private sector and other stakeholders to set carbon pollution standards for both new and existing carbon power plants.
The memorandum also directs the Transportation Department to work on another round of heavy-duty vehicle standards, and it includes up to $8 billion in loan guarantee authority available for advanced fossil energy and efficiency projects.
The president's support of renewable energy extends to the Department of Interior, which he will direct to permit enough such projects on public land by 2020 to power more than 6 million homes.
These, of course, are the first steps the administration has taken to address climate change. In 2011 it enacted stricter vehicle-fuel-efficiency standards in 2011, and it has long offered subsidies to support clean-energy industries like wind, solar and geothermal power.
As recently as yesterday, the administration was also trumpeting news that carbon pollution from the energy sector in the US last year fell to the lowest level in two decades.
And yet, the White House acknowledges, there is still grave cause for concern.
For instance, last month a report released in the US showed the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is higher than it has been at any other time in the last several million years.
After a year (2012), in which weather-related disaster costs exceeded $100 billion in the US, the president is also directing federal agencies to partner with states and local communities to prepare for the impacts of climate change.
His call to action includes a requirement that any new infrastructure built with taxpayer dollars be able to withstand storm-related risks like flooding and wind damage.
The White House will also unveil new climate change preparedness tools online, an initiative intended to make extensive climate data accessible to the public.
While all of these are domestic policies, the president is also expected to propose a new level of international collaboration for the US, through free trade agreements and other initiatives.
For additional information:
