The fast developing economies of India and China are adding to the emission of carbon dioxide, US President Barack Obama has said asking Americans to be ready and adopt more and more green technologies.
"Hurricane Sandy may not be as unusual as it used to be.
“You see higher incidents of flooding. Coastal states like Florida, there are neighborhoods where now every time there's a high tide there's a flood in these neighbourhoods," Obama said in Minneapolis on Thursday.
"And the problem is it's getting worse because, as folks in China and India and other places they want to have cars too, and they want to have electricity and the things that we've got, they start building more power plants and they start driving more.
“All of that adds to more carbon dioxide and it starts compounding," he said.
So this is something the Americans have to deal with, he said.
"Now, the good news is, there are things we can do.
“So, we doubled fuel efficiency standards on cars.
“By the middle of the next decade, cars and trucks are going to go twice as far on a gallon of gas.
“That's going to save you money in your pocketbook, but it's also taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere," Obama said.
His Administration, the US President said has invested in clean energy.
"Since I came into office, we're producing three times as much energy through wind power and we're producing about 10 times as much energy through solar power, and we're creating jobs here in the United States, folks installing wind turbines and solar panels.
“So it's good economics and it's also good for the environment," he said amidst wide applause.
"Most recently what I've done is, I've said about 40 per cent of the carbon that we emit comes from power plants.
“So, what we've said is, through the Environmental Protection Agency, we're going to set standards," he said.
Image: US President Barack Obama; Photograph: Jim Young/Reuters
