Nothing gives me more hope for the future than seeing my five grandchildren challenge expectations—
They see breakthroughs in technology we can’t even yet imagine.
But the only way they’ll get the chance to fulfill all that potential,
is if we take drastic action right now
to address the climate disaster facing the nation and our world.
More severe storms and droughts,
rising sea levels, warming temperatures,
shrinking snow cover and ice sheets.
It’s already happening.
And science tells us that how we act or fail to act, in the next 12 years
will determine the very livability of our planet.
Yet today, President Trump denies the evidence 
in front of his own eyes,
hides climate science produced by his own Administration,
and actively works to roll back what progress we have already made.
It’s reckless, it’s irresponsible, and it is unacceptable.
So today, I’m announcing my plan for a Clean Energy Revolution—
it outlines what we have to do to meet this challenge head-on and how we’re going to get there.
We’re going to invest $1.7 trillion in securing our future so that, by 2050, the United States will be
a 100 percent clean-energy economy with net-zero emissions.
And—by the end of my first term—
we’ll have an enforcement mechanism in place to make sure we stay on track to get there.
We’re going to make record-breaking investments in researching and developing zero-carbon technologies
so that America is the engine of the world’s clean energy economy—
exporting cutting-edge equipment stamped “Made in the USA”
to help other nations reduce emissions, and mitigate and adapt.
This initiative will create more than 10 million new good-paying jobs
all across the clean economy in The United States of America.
It’s an enormous opportunity—
We’ll hold polluters accountable for the damage they've caused—
particularly in low-income communities and communities of color.
Not only due to climate change.
But the pollution they are pumping in the air that is breathed
and the water that is drunk in those communities.
You know, we’re not going to forget the workers either.
The workers who through dangerous and back-breaking labor,
powered our industrial rise, mined and built our arsenal of democracy,
and fueled America’s prosperity throughout the 20th century.
They’ve earned our thanks, our respect, and our support.
Finally, we have to bring the world along with us. Global action requires American leadership,
But the United States only accounts for only 15% of global carbon emissions.
The rest of the world has to step up as well.
On day one I will immediately rejoin the Paris Climate Accord.
But that’s not sufficient.
We need to dramatically accelerate our worldwide efforts to meet the intensity of this challenge we face
So I’ll immediately get to work—
leading a diplomatic initiative to get every nation to go beyond their initial commitment— to push our progress further, and faster.
This is especially true for China—
by far the world’s largest emitter of carbon.
We’ll not only hold their leaders accountable for reducing carbon output at home in their country,
but make sure they stop financing billions of dollars of dirty fossil fuel projects all across Asia—
And this will allow us to keep creating good-paying jobs right here at home,
even as we raise our own standards.
America once again will be able to stand proudly on the world stage
And challenge every other nation to follow our example and our leadership.
For more than three decades, I have led on this issue.
I wrote one of the first climate change bills ever introduced in the United States Senate.
As Vice President, I oversaw the single largest investment in clean energy in our nation’s history –
over $90 billion.
I fought along with President Obama to double the efficiency of our cars—
Which would reduce our oil consumption by 12 billion barrels,
and for a Clean Power Plan—that limited carbon emissions from both existing and new power plants.
As President, I will lead America – and the world –not only to confront the crisis in front of us –
but to seize the opportunity it presents.
I will use every authority available to me to drive progress. And I will not accept half-measures.
Because making these revolutionary changes is going to take an incredible commitment at all levels,
but I am absolutely confident, that’s what the American people want to do, and we can meet this challenge.
Because this is what America does best—solve big problems, with big ideas.
That’s who we are. That’s who we’ve been.
We’re the United States of America.
And there’s not a single thing we cannot do.
And the world badly needs us to do it.
