ANAHEIM, Calif. – President Barack Obama said denying climate change is like arguing the moon is made of cheese, as he issued a call to action on global warming to Saturday’s graduates of the University of California, Irvine.
Obama said Congress “is full of folks who stubbornly and automatically reject the scientific evidence” and say climate change is a hoax or fad.
“Many others duck the question by saying, ‘Hey, I’m not a scientist,’” he said in remarks prepared for delivery. “Let me translate: What that means is, ‘I accept that man-made climate change is real, but if I admit it, I’ll be run out of town by a radical fringe that thinks climate science is a liberal plot.’”
Obama’s address to about 8,000 graduates from the Orange County campus comes two weeks after he announced a contentious plan to dramatically cut pollution from power plants.
He described a political system consumed by “small things” but said Americans should be determined to do “big things” like addressing climate change, despite the type of opposition he faces from Congress.
“No matter what you do in life, you will run up against a stubborn status quo and people determined to stymie your best efforts, who say you can’t do something and shouldn’t bother trying. I’ve got some experience with this myself,” Obama said.
