[Music]
Narrator: With climate change, we face a choice:
action or inaction. If we don’t act, the global average temperature
will continue its rapid climb and the temperature changes in the United States will mean serious
impacts across all sectors of the U.S. economy. Today, we are already seeing more extreme
weather, rising seas, changing rain and snow patterns and more drought. These
impacts, and others, are expected to worsen with climate change.
But what if we come together, as a global community, to address climate change?
EPA’s newly released Benefits of Global Action report looks at the consequences if
we don’t act, and the pay-off for the U.S. of global action.
If we act on climate, all Americans – especially our children and grandchildren – will see
the benefits in our health and our environment. We can prevent tens of thousands of premature
deaths annually in the United States by the end of the century, through air quality improvements
and less extreme temperatures. By the year 2100, we can cut the
increase of severe drought by half. And avoid more than 10 billion dollars in agriculture
losses per year, helping keep food prices affordable.
We can prevent billions of dollars in infrastructure costs by the end of the century –cutting
the number of vulnerable bridges in half, and saving Americans approximately three billion
dollars in annual costs to coastal property, and up to seven billion dollars in road repairs.
We can prevent the most severe climate impacts…if we act now.
The choices that we, and the global community, make today are the legacy we will leave to
our children and grandchildren. U.S. leadership is crucial to global climate action.
The Clean Air Act, established by Congress, obligates us to protect the health and welfare
of Americans – today and tomorrow. That’s why EPA is taking action to address
the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.
EPA’s Clean Power Plan will cut hundreds of millions of tons of heat-trapping carbon
pollution from power plants while cutting harmful smog and soot-forming emissions, too.
Our fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks will cut over 6 billion tons of carbon
pollution and save Americans 1.7 trillion dollars at the pump. We’re acting to make
a difference on climate change. [Music]