President-elect Barack Obama spoke via video conference (earning green kudos for low carbon communication) to attendees at the Bi-partisan Governors Global Climate Summit in Los Angeles two days ago and his address was a clear message that with him at the helm the US will be seriously committed to addressing climate change. He made some of the same statements he's been issuing on the election trail, and post election that we blogged about here. But this 4 min clip is really worth checking out to gauge his committment. This guy sounds serious about doing things!

Obama said that although he would not be making the trip to Poland in December for the next round of UN Climate Change talks, he would be following the outcome:

"Let me also say a special word to the delegates from around the world who will gather in Poland next month: your work is vital to the planet. While I won’t be President at the time of your meeting and while the United States has only one President at a time, I’ve asked Members of Congress who are attending the conference as observers to report back to me on what they learn there."

It will be interesting to see how the talks play out in his abscence and whether the Bush administration will acceed defeat or still try to remain obstructionist. They won't find any more support from Canada or Japan this time around, surely?

Also interesting was his mention of nuclear power and intimating that nuclear safety would have to be addressed: "We'll tap nuclear power by making sure it's safe."

The official Obama Energy Plan says: "However, before an expansion of nuclear power is considered, key issues must be addressed including: security of nuclear fuel and waste, waste storage, and proliferation."

As one commentor said - if addressed means solved, then expansion is out of the question any time soon!

via [350.org]