Obama spoke of climate change as the defining issue of the era. What's (not) on Obama's agenda

Environmentalists had a long discussion of climate change to cheer about. President Barack Obama made a historic embrace of the rights of “our gay brothers and sisters” as he invoked the legacy of Stonewall. The president talked more about poverty than he has for the past four years.

But gun control, immigration reform and deficit reduction each got only a passing mention.


( See also: Complete coverage of the Inauguration 2013)

And as for those big ideas he attached himself to in principle — Obama didn’t say anything about how he’d get them done.

The White House says the details will all be there by Feb. 12, when Obama addresses a joint session of Congress.

“Today was about laying a broader vision,” a White House official said. “In three weeks, we’ll do the policy specifics that back it up.”

( Also on POLITICO: 10 memorable lines from Obama’s speech)

The president did make clear that he’ll continue his aggressive approach toward Republicans in Congress during the fights ahead — including on what’s expected to be the biggest and longest, over the budget.

“We do not believe that in this country freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few,” Obama said. “We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us at any time may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a terrible storm. The commitments we make to each other through Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security, these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great.”

( Also on POLITICO: Obama: Medicare, Social Security changes only on my terms)

Obama spoke of climate change as the defining issue of the era, saying the debate was over the merits of protecting the environment. It was the most he said on the topic since it disappeared from his agenda when the 2009 cap-and-trade bill died in the Senate.

“We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations,” he said. “Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms.”

Obama continued: “The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries. we must claim its promise. That’s how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure — our forests and waterways, our crop lands and snow-capped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.”

( PHOTOS: Inauguration weekend 2013)

Environmentalists, long frustrated by the low priority their issue has held in Obama’s White House, hailed his remarks as groundbreaking.

“His forceful commitment to take action will rekindle the hopes of so many that we are at long last approaching the political tipping point, beyond which we will finally start transforming our economy to sharply reduce global warming pollution and safeguard the future,” wrote former Vice President Al Gore.

Gene Karpinski, the president of the League of Conservation Voters, said Obama’s remarks on climate change “offered great hope” for the planet’s future.

“President Obama made the link between climate change and extreme weather and called on America to lead the clean energy revolution,” Karpinski said. “His continued commitment to clean technologies and protecting our planet will build on an already strong environmental legacy. We look forward to continuing to work with the administration to ensure that clean energy jobs are built here at home while reducing harmful global warming pollution.”

Obama became the first president to use the word “gay” in a reference to sexual orientation during an inaugural address. He also included New York’s 1969 Stonewall riots in the pantheon of American civil rights landmarks.

“Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law,” Obama said. “For if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.”

Obama didn’t say Monday what he can and will do to further the cause of gay marriage. His position has been that it is an issue best left to the states. Still, Obama drew great praise from gay marriage advocates Monday.

Evan Wolfson, the president of Freedom to Marry, which campaigns for same-sex-marriage rights, said Obama “rightly exalted the struggle for the freedom to marry as part of America’s moral commitment to equality, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Freedom to Marry applauds our president and the moral leadership he has shown, the moral leadership we will continue to need until all Americans, all loving couples, all families, can share fully in the American promise we celebrate on Inauguration Day.”

On poverty, Obama described his vision of social justice for the working and lower classes as an ever-present goal of his administration.

“We know that America thrives when every person can find independence and pride in their work; when the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship,” Obama said. We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American; she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own.”

Yet on the biggest political issues of 2013 so far, Obama had little to say. His lone references to gun control and immigration came together in a riff alongside other legislative priorities.

“Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote,” he said. “Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity, until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia, to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for and cherished and always safe from harm.”

The inaugural poet, Richard Blanco, offered more vivid detail about gun control. And the Rev. Luis Leon, who delivered the benediction, said more about immigration with his few words of Spanish.