More than 600 climate change leaders from across the country and around the world convened in Los Angeles earlier this week for the opening sessions of the Global Climate Summit, a 2-day event arranged by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to break gridlock on the issue ahead of next month's United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland.
The President-elect told the Bi-Partisan Governors Global Climate Summit, "I promise you this: When I am president, any governor who's willing to promote clean energy will have a partner in the White House. Any company that's willing to invest in clean energy will have an ally in Washington. And any nation that's willing to join the cause of combating climate change will have an ally in the United States of America."
In a short video addressed to the Summit's attendees, President-elect Obama promised that his administration would mark a "new chapter in American leadership on climate change. "Few challenges facing America -- and the world -- are more urgent than combating climate change," he said. "Many of you are working to confront this challenge....but too often, Washington has failed to show the same kind of leadership. That will change when I take office."
