Celebrating New Orleans, Obama urges climate action

Gregory Korte | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — President Obama travels to New Orleans Thursday to celebrate the progress made in the 10 years since Hurricane Katrina, but also to urge action on climate change to prevent and mitigate future weather events from devastating coastal communities.

Calling the 2005 hurricane "one of the seminal catastrophes of our lifetime," Obama told New Orleans television station WWL that the anniversary should focus national attention on the extreme weather events happening with increasing frequency as global temperatures rise.

"We all remember the searing images of the dome, and people trying to rescue others off rooftops. not only was it a terrible natural disaster, but it was a fundamental failure on the part of government to respond rapidly," Obama said.

Obama's visit to the New Orleans will highlight the city, state and federal efforts to bounce back after the hurricane. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the day trip was mainly "an opportunity to celebrate the remarkable revival of an American city."

Excerpts of Obama's speech released in advance by the White House show themes of resilience, rebuilding and renewal. "You are an example of what’s possible when, in the face of tragedy and hardship, good people come together to lend a hand, and to build a better future," Obama will say. "That, more than any other reason, is why I’ve come back here today."

But there's also another reason for Obama's ninth visit to Louisiana as president. "One thing that the president will certainly talk about in New Orleans tomorrow is the need for the federal government, and in communities all across the country, to make the kinds of investments in resilience so that our communities can better withstand stronger tornadoes, more violent hurricanes, more widespread wildfires, those kinds of things," Earnest said.

Obama is in the midst of a climate tour that includes stops in Nevada, Louisiana and Alaska. He'll address an Arctic nations conference in Anchorage next week, and then visit remote native Alaskan villages. Obama said the back-to-back visits to the Gulf Coast and Alaska are connected: Melting polar ice is resulting in higher sea levels — with impacts felt in coastal areas like New Orleans.

"We can build great levees. We can restore wetlands. But ultimately, what we also have to do is make sure that we don't continue to see ocean levels rise, oceans getting warmer, storms getting stronger," Obama told WWL anchor Sally-Ann Roberts.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal urged Obama not to "stray into climate change politics" or "the divisive political agenda of liberal environmental activism."

"A lecture on climate change would do nothing to improve upon what we are already doing," Jindal, a Republican candidate for president, said in an open letter to Obama. "Quite the opposite; it would distract from the losses we have suffered, diminish the restoration efforts we have made, and overshadow the miracle that has been the Louisiana comeback."