I went looking for newly stated goals today on Climate Change today by the American President -- and found a whole lot more.
Obama's mantra: 'Peace with justice'
by David Jackson, The Oval, USA TODAY -- 12:35 p.m. EDT June 19, 2013
It wasn't too hard to discern the theme of President Obama's speech Wednesday at the Brandenburg Gate in Germany: "Peace with justice."
Obama invoked the phrase -- borrowed from President John F. Kennedy -- no less than 10 times during his address in Berlin, outlining ambitious goals for the world that in many ways mirror his own domestic agenda.
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The president also used the phrase "peace and justice" on at least two occasions.
Noting that Germany eventually tore down the Berlin Wall that had divided them, and won the Cold War, Obama said the world now needs to summon that same kind of effort.
President Obama's remarks at the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, Germany
by Transcripts Editors for Transcripts and Documents, Jun 19, 2013
Berlin, Germany
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Hello, Berlin! (Applause.)
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I'd suggest that peace with justice begins with the example we set here at home, for we know from our own histories that intolerance breeds injustice. Whether it's based on race, or religion, gender or sexual orientation, we are stronger when all our people -- no matter who they are or what they look like -- are granted opportunity, and when our wives and our daughters have the same opportunities as our husbands and our sons. (Applause.)
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Peace with justice means free enterprise that unleashes the talents and creativity that reside in each of us; in other models, direct economic growth from the top down or relies solely on the resources extracted from the earth. But we believe that real prosperity comes from our most precious resource -- our people. And that’s why we choose to invest in education, and science and research. (Applause.)
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Peace with justice means extending a hand to those who reach for freedom, wherever they live. Different peoples and cultures will follow their own path, but we must reject the lie that those who live in distant places don’t yearn for freedom and self-determination just like we do; that they don’t somehow yearn for dignity and rule of law just like we do. We cannot dictate the pace of change in places like the Arab world, but we must reject the excuse that we can do nothing to support it. (Applause.)
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Peace with justice means pursuing the security of a world without nuclear weapons -- no matter how distant that dream may be. And so, as President, I've strengthened our efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, and reduced the number and role of America’s nuclear weapons. Because of the New START Treaty, we’re on track to cut American and Russian deployed nuclear warheads to their lowest levels since the 1950s. (Applause.)
President Obama: (continuing)
Peace with justice means refusing to condemn our children to a harsher, less hospitable planet. The effort to slow climate change requires bold action. And on this, Germany and Europe have led.
In the United States, we have recently doubled our renewable energy from clean sources like wind and solar power. We’re doubling fuel efficiency on our cars. Our dangerous carbon emissions have come down. But we know we have to do more -- and we will do more. (Applause.)
With a global middle class consuming more energy every day, this must now be an effort of all nations, not just some. For the grim alternative affects all nations -- more severe storms, more famine and floods, new waves of refugees, coastlines that vanish, oceans that rise. This is the future we must avert. This is the global threat of our time. And for the sake of future generations, our generation must move toward a global compact to confront a changing climate before it is too late. That is our job. That is our task. We have to get to work. (Applause.)
Peace with justice means meeting our moral obligations. And we have a moral obligation and a profound interest in helping lift the impoverished corners of the world. By promoting growth so we spare a child born today a lifetime of extreme poverty. By investing in agriculture, so we aren’t just sending food, but also teaching farmers to grow food. By strengthening public health, so we’re not just sending medicine, but training doctors and nurses who will help end the outrage of children dying from preventable diseases. Making sure that we do everything we can to realize the promise -- an achievable promise -- of the first AIDS-free generation. That is something that is possible if we feel a sufficient sense of urgency. (Applause.)
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And finally, let’s remember that peace with justice depends on our ability to sustain both the security of our societies and the openness that defines them. Threats to freedom don’t merely come from the outside. They can emerge from within -- from our own fears, from the disengagement of our citizens.
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Well, there is a lot to contemplate there. I suppose a global stage is a good place to
set some global goals. And in so doing, following a pattern set down by another American President, fifty years ago ... one that kind of worked.
Obama echoes JFK speech -- the one on nukes
by David Jackson, The Oval, USA TODAY -- 1:12 p.m. EDT June 19, 2013
President Obama paid tribute Wednesday to a famous John F. Kennedy speech -- but not the one that's getting the most attention.
On June 10, 1963, a full 16 days before his celebrated "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, Kennedy spoke of his desire to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons -- a theme Obama stressed in his "peace with justice" speech at the Brandenburg Gate.
In calling for a one-third reduction in the world's nuclear stockpiles, Obama pledged to negotiate new cuts with Russia and NATO allies, as well as a new framework to promote the development of peaceful nuclear power. The president said he will host a 2016 summit on nuclear materials worldwide, and called for a treaty to end production of fissile
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Fifty years ago, in a commencement address at American University in Washington, D.C., President Kennedy called for a reduction of Cold War tensions with the then-Soviet Union, saying "total war makes no sense in an age when great powers can maintain large and relatively invulnerable nuclear forces and refuse to surrender without resort to those forces."
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It's good to have and state noble goals. And even better yet,
to actually reach them.
However long it takes ... that good fight must continue ...