TIGHT ON OBAMA FOR: My top science advisor John Holdman, periodically will issue some chart or report or graph ah, in the morning meetings, and they’re terrifying. [B-ROLL SOUND UP WAVE CRASH AS PUNCTUATION] OVER SCENIC B-ROLL OF INTERVIEW LOCATION AND MOODY WEATHER SHOTS: Obama: And everybody starts off the day thinking about, okay ah, we—we’ve really gotta get on this, we’ve gotta pay attention to this. TITLE CARD OVER THE ABOVE SCENIC/MOODY SHOTS WIDE OF PATTER TIGHT ON INTERVIEWER: Q: First of all Mr. President, thank you very much for talking to us and doing such a lovely spot. Ah, we’re told you’ve thought a lot about how and why civilizations collapse. And we wanted to ask you, do you believe the threat from climate change is dire enough that it could precipitate the collapse of our civilization? A: Well, I don’t know 00:02:00 That I can you know, look into a crystal ball and know exactly how this plays out. [...] what we do know is that historically, when you see severe environmental strains of one sort or another on cultures, on civilizations, on nations, that the by-products of that are unpredictable and can be very dangerous. 00:02:30 What we know is that if the current projections, the current trend lines on a warming planet continue, it is certainly going to be enormously disruptive worldwide. And just imagine for example, monsoon patterns shifting in south Asian, where you’ve got over a billion people. 00:03:00 If you have even a portion of those billion people displaced, ah, you now have the sorts of refugee crises and potential conflicts that we haven’t seen in our lifetimes. [...] Then you’re looking at a much more dangerous world and severe strains on nation states, on communities, on economies[...]. Q: I mean given the magnitude of that threat, why do you think it’s been so difficult for you to mobilize 00:04:02 Public opinion at home about the necessity of confronting this issue? A: Well the good news is, during the course of my presidency, I think we’ve solidified, ah, in popular opinion the fact that climate change is real, that it’s important, and we should do something about it. Ah, so the problem is not that people don’t believe in climate change, you know, there’s—there are pockets of resistance, ah, particularly in 00:04:30 Certain congressional caucuses. UP SOUND: - someon e in Congress poo-pooing Obama’s climate policies specifically.>>> But you talk to the average person, I think they understand at this point [...] that this is something serious and we gotta do something about it. Translating concern into action is the challenge. And part of what makes climate change difficult is that it ah, is not an instantaneous catastrophic event. It’s a slow-moving 00:05:00 Ah, issue that on a day to day basis people don’t experience and don’t see. [...] And so part of our goal throughout my presidency has been to raise awareness, but also then to 00:06:00 Create frameworks, structures, rules that allow us to take specific action in ways that create economic opportunity and improve people’s wellbeing as opposed to people feeling as if there are these enormous trade-offs that ah, necessarily make life a lot harder for them. <<Obama at ACESA announcement:>> So that we can say, at long last, that this was the moment that we decided to confront America’s energy challange and reclaim America’s future. IN 2009, PRESIDENT OBAMA INTRODUCED the American Clean Energy and Security Act, PROPOSING A “CAP AND TRADE” PLAN WHERE THE GOVERNMENT SETS AN ANNUAL CAP ON GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS, AND ALLOWS BUSINESSES TO TRADE PERMITS ALLOWING THEM TO EXCEED THE LIMITS. THE BILL NEVER PASSED. LATER THAT YEAR, PRESIDENT OBAMA ATTENDED A SUMMIT OF WORLD LEADERS IN COPENHAGEN TO DISCUSS CLIMATE SCIENCE. HIS SPEECH WAS WIDELY CRITICIZED AS A FAILURE TO EMBRACE BOLD MEASURES TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE <<Obama at summit:>> I believe that we can act boldly, and decisively, in the face of this common threat. And that is why I have come here today. TALKS ENDED WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT CHANGES. Q3: Mr. President you tried but failed to take action in your first term. Ah, the cap and trade bill failed in the senate. Ah, the Copenhagen climate change talks ended in collapse. What lessons did you learn, ah, from those episodes? 00:07:30 [...] When cap and trade came up, I was certainly disappointed that ah, many Republicans who previously had said that they were concerned about this suddenly went the other way, as the politics of it shifted. [...] people felt if, you know, we’re hemorrhaging jobs, and the economy is contracting, is this the time for us to be able to move this issue forward aggressively. Ah, but what we did do is to use the model we had created with the auto industry to start thinking how do we engage industry and how do we engage states on a whole set of rules, ah, and steps that even though short of big 00:08:30 Comprehensive legislation can still get the job done. And I think one of the most important things that people should know is that here, in 2016, ah, we’ve actually achieved more carbon emissions than we would have, under the ah, under the cap and trade bill that was presented and went down in the house. So ah, it taught us that there’s just more than one way to skin a cat. 00:10:30 [...] And what I was able to get done in Copenhagen was to at least extract the basic principle that if we’re gonna solve this problem every country has to be involved, not just the wealthy countries, [...] 00:11:00 [...] That seems like a small thing but that was the mechanism whereby we were able in subsequent meetings to begin negotiations with China, ultimately leading to our joint announcement where China said it would set targets and restrain itself. THE NOVEMBER 2014, ANNOUNCEMENT THE PRESIDENT REFERS TO IS A SIGNIFICANT ONE, THE US STATED IT WOULD DOUBLE THE PACE OF YEARLY EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS. AND CHINA, FOR THE FIRST TIME, ANNOUNCED IT WOULD PEAK ITS OWN EMISSIONS. <OBAMA sound-up:>> I commend President Xi, his team and the Chinese government for the commitment they are making to slow, peak and then reverse the course of China’s carbon emissions. Q: I’ve been told that in the—the night before actually, the 2014 US China climate deal was announced that there were a couple of outstanding issues and that some of these were actually worked out between you and President Xi one on one. [...] I was wondering whether there’s anything you can share with us about what your insight was about why ah, the—you know, ah, party leadership in China would be willing to take such painful steps. 00:33:30 [...] Ah, I had been in contact with President Xi prior 00:34:00 To my arrival. Ah and given him a sense of, if you are prepared to do this, here is what we’re gonna be doing, and for us to be able to make a joint announcement, I think would signal the capacity of ah, the US and China to lead the world on an issue of critical importance to everybody. Ah, one of the reasons I think that China was prepared to go further than it 00:34:30 Had been prepared to go previously, is that their overriding concern tends to be political stability. Interestingly, one of their greatest political vulnerabilities is the environment. People who go to Beijing, ah, know that ah, it can be hard to breathe. [...] And so they—the Chinese party leadership recognized that they had to rethink how they approach ah, environmental issues. Ah, and find ways to make that compatible with the growth rates that they need to keep up with their population. And I think we saw that as an opener ah, for us to be able to say 00:35:30 Ah, not only can you address what is increasingly important ah, domestic issue, and that’s air quality. You can also work with us to create a multi-lateral framework you know, that shows China’s emerging leadership on a world stage. // UNABLE TO FIND COMMON GROUND WITH REPUBLICANS, PRESIDENT OBAMA ELECTED TO TAKE UNCONVENTIONAL - SOME REPUBLICANS WOULD SAY UNCONSTITUTIONAL - STEPS. HIS CLEAN POWER PLAN IS AN EXPANSION OF THE REGULATORY OVERSIGHT OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY. <<aug 3 2015, east room of wh, obama announces clean power plan>> OBAMA: I am convinced that no challenge poses a greater threat to our future and future generations than a changing climate. And that’s what brings us here today. Q3: 00:22:33 [...] You’ve gotten a lot of blow-back for this. What are your misgivings about it, and how much do you worry that these will be these creative interpretation of the law will be legally durable? 00:23:30 [...] Well, // if Donald Trump is elected for example, you have a pretty big shift now with the EPA operates and that’s true generally. //There is no doubt that ah, when you have a legislative ratification of a policy, that it is permanent, ah, it is less subject to ah, reversal. But keep in mind that what happens, when we come up with smart policies and regulations that prove to work, 00:24:00 Ah, you start getting buy-in from utilities, and you start getting buy-in from states, and you start getting buy-in from those who’ve invested, ah, private capital in this existing system. It becomes stickier. It’s harder then to reverse because you know, the country’s gone down a different path. 00:24:32 [...] So all these ah, individual ah, and collective steps that have been taken, they lock in, they embed us moving ah, in a certain direction. And for somebody then to come in and say well we’re gonna tear this out 00:26:00 Root and branch, ah, it’s not just a matter now of reversing what I’ve done, it’s a matter of reversing what a whole lot of people are—are seeing works. Q3: Well you talked about all this buy-in from utilities, states, industry. But one of the things that is necessary for the clean power plan to be implemented is for it to stand up to 00:27:03 Legal challenge. Ah, the supreme court has put a halt on implementing it right now. And one of the most prominent critics of the legal structure of the clean power plan is your own mentor at Harvard Law School, Larry Tribe. He has said that your use of the clean air act to put forth the clean power plan is a vast legal overreach, he has compared it—direct quote—to burning the constitution. What is your 00:27:30 Reaction to Professor Tribe’s legal criticism of—of your plan? 00:28:00 I can say that legally, he’s wrong. And ah, I think most legal commentators also think he’s wrong. I think he’s in the minority in the view that he’s taken. But ultimately what really counts is what the DC circuit ah, and ah, if it gets there, the supreme court thinks about it. And I’m very confident that the clean power plan will be upheld. Q3: If it is upheld, there will be some stark economic tradeoffs if it’s implemented. If it stands up to legal challenges, essentially the clean power plan will eventually end demand for coal power. What do you owe the workers and the people in coal communities who will be hurt, who will lose their jobs, who will lose their livelihoods as a result of this? A: Well I think we as a country owe everybody opportunity. And if they’re in a sector that because of the necessities of doing something about climate change are gonna be adversely impacted, then we need to be there for them. // So what we owe ah, the remaining people who are making a living ah, mining coal, is to be honest with them, and to say that, look, the economy is shifting, how we use energy is shifting, that’s gonna be true here but it’s also gonna be true internationally. And how can we take your ah, skills and talents and work ethic that you’ve shown in this coal mine and use it to build some wind turbines, or use it to install ah, solar panels, or help us to rebuild a smart grid that would make our power distribution a lot more efficient. // I think there are a lot of folks in West Virginia and Kentucky, probably southern Illinois who do think that the reason they’re having a tough time is because ah, Obama and the EPA. And now of course Hillary Clinton, ah, you know, we’re all trying to destroy them. Ah, but what I want to do, and I think we should all want to do, is to have an honest conversation about how do we make sure that ah, these communities thrive with the energies—ah—industries of the 21st century, not of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.