How Obama has Achieved to Remedy Climate Change

President Barack Obama has done more than any other U.S. president to combat climate change and the drastic effects it has on the planet. Throughout his two terms, new national standards for the carbon pollution of power plants have been set, and CO2 emissions have been decreased. One of his acts passed, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, invested 250 million dollars into clean energy, which has been the largest clean energy act ever passed. This created thousands of new jobs, enabled the use of new green tools, and invested in multiple other ways. According to the White House, solar usage has increased by 30 percent, and wind power has tripled.

Under Obama, the Paris Climate Agreement was ratified, and it was a pact that agreed to keep global average temperatures from increasing more than 2 percent. However, it is very unlikely that this will actually happen because more people are selfish and greedy and would rather fill their pockets with money, instead of reducing their part in global warming. It is still a great step in international cooperation, and acts as an incentive to combat climate change.

In addition to this, Obama signed an agreement with the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and President of Mexico, Peña Nieto which was to see that more than half of the energy in North America will become emissions free by the year 2025. According to an interview Obama had in January of 2016, he stated that his goal was “to leave behind a better, safer, more prosperous world for our kids and grandkids”.

Obama has not just tried to reduce carbon emissions and remedy climate change, but has also protected more land than any other U.S. president. He was able to create 22 new national parks, and even added marine ecosystems to protected areas. The first Marine National Monument in the Atlantic Ocean is the size of Connecticut. To top that, less than two months later he created the Ross Sea Reserve, which is the largest marine reserve in the planet. Obama’s conservation legacy will survive long past his two terms and will assist in the new uncertain and quite tragic course for our environment this term with Donald Trump as president.