Obama: To deny climate change 'betrays the spirit of this country'

President Obama.
(Image credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

President Obama touted his climate change policies during his farewell address Tuesday, and said we must keep the momentum going.

"In just eight years, we've halved our dependency on foreign oil, doubled our renewable energy, and led the world to an agreement that has the promise to save this planet," Obama said, referring to the Paris Agreement. "Without bolder action, our children won't have time to debate the existence of climate change; they'll be busy dealing with its effects — more environmental disasters, more economic disruptions, waves of climate refugees seeking sanctuary." While it's important to "argue about the best approach to solve this problem," Obama said, to "simply deny the problem not only betrays future generations, it betrays the essential spirit of this country, the essential spirit of innovation and practical problem-solving that guided our founders."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.