Statement by UN Foundation Vice-Chair Sen. Timothy E. Wirth on the Obama Administration’s Rule to Reduce Emissions from Coal fired Power Plants

Today, President Obama has taken more aggressive action than any US President to address the urgent risk posed by climate change and end the paralysis on global action. As the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made clear, we are already feeling the impacts of climate change today – here and everywhere in the world in different ways. By reducing the levels of harmful carbon pollution from power plants 30 percent by 2030, we will take a significant step toward transforming our economy to clean energy and showing leadership internationally. This will have major payoffs for jobs and public health. What once seemed a mirage is becoming a reality: The world can now glimpse the prospect of an economy largely dependent on abundant, inexhaustible, affordable clean energy.

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The United Nations Foundation builds public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and broadens support for the United Nations through advocacy and public outreach. Through innovative campaigns and initiatives, the Foundation connects people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The Foundation was created in 1998 as a U.S. public charity by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner and now is supported by global corporations, foundations, governments, and individuals. For more information, visit www.unfoundation.org