APRIL 28 2015, PRESIDENT OBAMA - As soon as he got behind the Presidential insignia Obama appeared to expand into his presidential stature and gave a strong speech that was full of sound bytes designed to create ripples, and ripple it did. The president is quoted as saying: “Climate change can no longer be denied. It can’t be edited out. It can’t be omitted from the conversation,” it was clear who he was targeting, and he continued to speak specifically to Florida: “Because in places like this, folks don’t have time, we don’t have time — you do not have time to deny the effects of climate change. Folks are already busy dealing with it. And nowhere is it going to have a bigger impact than here in south Florida. No place else.” (Full text below)

Andrew Wylie, a leading literary agent, is quoted as saying that he thought that publishers would pay between seventeen and twenty million dollars for the book - the most ever for a work of nonfiction - and around twelve million for Michelle Obama’s memoirs. (The First Lady has already started work on hers.) Obama’s best friend, Marty Nesbitt, a Chicago businessman, told Mr Wylie that, important as the memoir might be to Obama’s legacy and to his finances, “I don’t see him locked up in a room writing all the time. His capacity to crank stuff out is amazing. When he was writing his second book, he would say, ‘I’m gonna get up at seven and write this chapter—and at nine we’ll play golf.’ I would think no, it’s going to be a lot later, but he would knock on my door at nine and say, ‘Let’s go.’ ” Nesbitt thinks that Obama will work on issues such as human rights, education, and “health and wellness.” “He was a local community organizer when he was young,” he said. “At the back end of his career, I see him as an international and national community organizer.”

THE GUARDIAN 29 JUNE 2015 - SIR DAVID and the US PRESIDENT on CLIMATE CHANGE

Barack Obama was the one asking the questions in an interview with British naturalist David Attenborough that aired on Sunday in which they agreed that combating climate change would require a global effort.

Saying he had long been a “huge admirer” of Attenborough’s TV documentaries about the environment, Obama turned the tables on Attenborough in an interview taped on 8 May at the White House, which aired on the BBC and other international broadcasters.

Climate change is one of Obama’s priorities for his remaining time in office, but he faces resistance from Republicans in Congress on how to deal with the issue.

Obama noted the US agreement with China in 2014 to set new limits on carbon emissions starting in 2025. The two countries are the world’s leading carbon emitters.

He told Attenborough: “We’re not moving as fast as we need to, and part of what I know from watching your programs, and all the great work you’ve done, is that these ecosystems are all interconnected."

“If just one country is doing the right thing, but other countries are not, then we’re not going to solve the problem. We’re going to have to have a global solution to this,” he said.

Attenborough agreed that “the solutions are global”.

Obama also asked the naturalist if he thought it was possible “to get a handle on these issues”.

After Attenborough stressed the value of finding ways to generate and store power from renewable resources, Obama said: “I think you’re right about that. There has got to be an economic component to this.”

Attenborough, 89, the brother of the late actor and director Richard Attenborough, has been making television documentaries for 60 years. The BBC has called him “the godfather of natural history TV”.

It came as his administration is finalising rules to curb carbon emissions from power plants. Obama has pushed world leaders to agree to new targets at a summit later this year in Paris.

Obama told Attenborough that children were “much more environmentally aware” than adults, and cited his daughters Malia, 16, and Sasha, 13, as examples. “They do not dispute, for example, the science around climate change,” Obama said.

20 MAY 2015

President Barack Obama spoke at the US Coast Guard Academy's commencement ceremony, calling climate change "an immediate risk to our national security." In recent months, the Obama administration has repeatedly highlighted the international threats posed by global warming and has emphasized the need for the country's national security agencies to study and confront the issue. President Obama warned that it actually could exacerbate other menaces, such as terrorism and political instability.

“Severe drought helped to create the instability in Nigeria that was exploited by the terrorist group Boko Haram,” Obama said. “It’s now believed that drought and crop failures and high food prices helped fuel the early unrest in Syria, which descended into civil war in the heart of the Middle East.”

In a speech in 2014, President Obama discussed how “we are the first generation to feel the impact of climate change and the last generation that can do something about it.” That’s also more or less true of plastic in the oceans. There was no mention of the problem in the scientific literature until the early 1970s. Today, tiny pieces of plastic are choking or obstructing the gastrointestinal tracts of seabirds, sea turtles, and many marine mammals.

WHITEHOUSE VISIT - Prince Charles met US President Barack Obama on a visit to the White House's Oval Office in March 2015 and were told by the President that British royals are more popular among Americans than US politicians. It is reported that Mr Obama told the Prince of Wales: "I think it's fair to say that the American people are quite fond of the royal family," and the prince replied: "That's awfully nice to know." The president then joked: "They like them much better than they like their own politicians," and Charles added with a laugh: "I don't believe that."

THE GUARDIAN JUNE 16 2014 - OBAMA TO ORDER OCEAN PROTECTIONS

The US secretary of state, John Kerry, says saving the world's oceans was a vital security issue, and has urged leaders at an international summit to take immediate action on over fishing and pollution.

Kerry, speaking at the start of the summit, said humans had caused “enormous damage” to the oceans, jeopardising the food security of three billion people on the planet.

The two-day conference includes officials from 80 countries, and is the most visible effort to date by the Obama administration to lead a global conservation effort for the oceans. To that end, the State Department on Monday announced that actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who recently donated $3m to Oceana, will attend the summit on Tuesday.

Secretary of State John Kerry

Kerry called on leaders to take immediate steps on overfishing, pollution, and changes in ocean chemistry caused by rising carbon dioxide emissions.

“No one should mistake that the protection of our oceans is a vital international security issue,” Kerry said.

“Most people under-estimate the enormous damage we as people are inflicting on our oceans every single day.”

Barack Obama will – once again – use his executive powers as president on Tuesday to announce new efforts for ocean protection, Kerry told the summit.

State department officials and environmental groups said they expected Obama to declare additional marine protection areas when he delivers a video message to the summit on Tuesday.

Campaign groups said they were also looking to Obama to order a new task force on illegal fishing. Obama is also expected to increase research funds for monitoring changes in ocean chemistry.

PLASTIC TO ENERGY CONVERSION - In his March visit to Cleveland, President Barack Obama stopped by the Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network (MAGNET) facilities to see what products were being created and developed by local manufacturers in Northeast Ohio. 

During this visit, President Obama spoke with Jim Garrett, CEO of Vadxx Energy, and Jeff Schick of EcoChem about the next generation of fuel alternatives. Garrett explained to Obama how Vadxx can make fuel out of plastic waste, essentially turning trash into gas. Shick then showed Obama samples of EcoChem’s High Performance Clean Diesel, which will increases the number of miles per gallon for bus fleets that typically use a lot of fuel. Shick pointed out that EcoChem is working with NASA and the Department of Defense, to which Obama replied, “Yeah, we use a lot of fuel.”

SPEECH by PRESIDENT OBAMA ON THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE - THE EVERGLADES, FLORIDA

3:16 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody! Please have a seat. It’s good to be back in Florida. So I can’t think of a better way to spend Earth Day than in one of our nation’s greatest natural treasures, the Everglades. (Applause.) And anybody who comes here to visit - and I advise everybody who’s watching who hasn’t been down here to come on down. You can see what makes this unique landscape so magical - what the poet Emma Lazarus called “the savage splendor of the swamp.” Although I was informed it’s not technically a swamp. (Laughter.) 

I want to thank our outstanding Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, who’s here. (Applause.) Her team at the Interior Department and the National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis for helping to protect places like this. (Applause.) The Everglades National Park Superintendent Pedro Ramos is doing outstanding work. (Applause.) I want to thank Miami-Dade Congressmen Murphy and Carvalho who are here doing outstanding work, as well as Debbie Wasserman Schultz. (Applause.) You’ll be pleased to know that they are all in when it comes to protecting the Everglades, and we’re very proud of the good work that they’re doing. We even have the Science Guy, Bill Nye, here. (Applause.) There’s Bill. 

Now, they’re all here and we’re all here because this 1.5 million acres is unlike any place on Earth. It’s no wonder that over a million people visited last year alone. The sawgrass prairies and mangrove forests are home to an incredible diversity of wildlife - bald eagles, herons, hundreds of plant species, from pine trees to wild orchids. Believe it or not, south Florida is the only place in the world where you can find both alligators and crocodiles in the same habitat. I’m told this is a good thing. (Laughter.)

In the words of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, who helped preserve this land: “There are no other Everglades in the world.” But part of the reason we’re here is because climate change is threatening this treasure and the communities that depend on it, which includes almost all of south Florida. And if we don’t act, there may not be an Everglades as we know it. 

2014 was the planet’s warmest year on record. Fourteen of the 15 hottest years on record have all fallen in the first 15 years of this century. Yes, this winter was cold in parts of our country, including Washington. Some people in Washington helpfully used a snowball to illustrate that fact. But around the world, in the aggregate, it was the warmest winter ever recorded.

STEM - By its nature, the study of competitive robotics not only encompasses all four pillars of STEM education (Science - Technology - Engineering - Maths), but also encourages important life skills like teamwork, communication, and project-based organization. The Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation exists to bring this exciting experience to students all over the globe through the VEX IQ Challenge, VEX Robotics Competition, and VEX U.

This is not a problem for another generation. Not anymore. This is a problem now. It has serious implications for the way we live right now. Stronger storms. Deeper droughts. Longer wildfire seasons. The world’s top climate scientists are warning that a changing climate already affects the air that our children are breathing. The Surgeon General and I recently met with doctors and nurses and parents who see patients and kids grappling with the health impacts. The Pentagon says that climate change poses an increasing set of risks to our national security.

And here in the Everglades, you can see the effect of a changing climate. As sea levels rise, salty water from the ocean flows inward. And this harms freshwater wildlife, which endangers a fragile ecosystem. The saltwater flows into aquifers, which threatens the drinking water of more than 7 million Floridians. South Florida, you’re getting your drinking water from this area, and it depends on this. And in terms of economic impact, all of this poses risks to Florida’s $82 billion tourism industry on which so many good jobs and livelihoods depend.

So climate change can no longer be denied. It can’t be edited out. It can’t be omitted from the conversation. And action can no longer be delayed. And that’s why I’ve committed the United States to lead the world in combatting this threat. (Applause.) 

The steps we’ve taken over the last several years are already making a difference. We’re using more clean energy than ever before. America is number one in wind power, and last year we generated 20 times more electricity from sunlight than we did in all of 2008 - 20 times. 

We’ve committed to doubling the pace at which we cut carbon pollution. China, in part because of our actions, has now committed for the first time to limit their emissions. And this means that there’s new hope that this year the world will finally reach an agreement to prevent the worst impacts of climate change before it’s too late.

We’re wasting less energy, with more fuel-efficient cars that save people money at the pump, and more energy-efficient buildings that save us money on our electricity bills. 

So more clean energy, improved energy efficiency - these steps can help us avoid some of the worst effects of climate change down the road. But we also have to prepare for the effects of climate change that we’re already too late to avoid. If you think about it, this is like we’re hitting the brakes on a car, but the car is not going to come to a complete halt right away. So some of these changes are already happening, and even if we take the right steps, we’re going to have to make some adaptations.

And that’s why we’ve been working with cities and states to build more resilient infrastructure and restore natural defenses like wetlands. And today, I want to announce new actions to protect our national parks and our public lands, and the communities that rely on them.

First, we’re releasing a report showing that every dollar invested in the National Park Service generates $10 for the economy. That’s a good investment. (Applause.) I don’t run a private equity fund, but I know that if you invest a dollar and you get $10 back, that’s a good investment. (Laughter.) 

In 2014, almost 300 million visitors to our national parks spent almost $16 billion and supported 277,000 jobs. So protecting our parks is a smart thing to do for our economy. That’s why I’ve set aside more public lands and waters than any administration in history. (Applause.)

Here in the Everglades, we’ve already invested $2.2 billion in restoration efforts. With the support of some outstanding members of Congress, I’ve proposed another $240 million this year. We want to restore the natural water flow of the Everglades, which we know is one of the best defenses against climate change and rising sea levels. (Applause.) And I’m calling on Congress to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which supports this work across the country. (Applause.) 

I’m also announcing $25 million in public and private money for restoration projects at our national parks. And this is part of our broader effort that we’ve launched to encourage every American to “Find Your Park.” Chances are, there’s one closer than you think. 

Just last weekend, Michelle and I took the girls for a hike in a national park just 20 minutes outside of Washington, D.C. As we were walking a trail along the Everglades, we saw a group of school kids - couldn’t have been more excited about mostly seeing the gators, not seeing me - (laughter) - but also learning about the science of the planet that they live on. And I want every child to have that opportunity.

So starting this fall, we’re going to give every fourth grader in America an “Every Kid In A Park” pass, and that’s a pass good for free admission to all our public lands for you, your families for an entire year. (Applause.) Because no matter who you are, no matter where you live, our parks, our monuments, our lands, our waters - these places are your birthright as Americans. 

And today, I’m designating America’s newest national historic landmark, the Marjory Stoneham Douglas House in Miami, so that future generations will know how this amazing woman helped conserve the Everglades for all of us. (Applause.) 

We’re also working with farmers and ranchers and forest land owners to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions. I’m going to keep doing everything I can to prepare and protect America from the worst effects of climate change, including fighting for clean air, clean water. Because in places like this, folks don’t have time, we don’t have time - you do not have time to deny the effects of climate change. Folks are already busy dealing with it. And nowhere is it going to have a bigger impact than here in south Florida. No place else. It has to be paying closer attention to this and acknowledging it, and understanding that if we take action now we can do something about it. (Applause.) 

This is not some impossible problem that we cannot solve. We can solve it if we’ve got some political will. And we can solve it in a way that creates jobs. We can solve it in a way that doesn’t disrupt our economy but enhances our economy. And it’s a bipartisan issue. 

On the way in, I was talking to some folks about the fact that Teddy Roosevelt, he’s a Republican - started our National Park System. Richard Nixon started the EPA. George H.W. Bush was the first President, globally, to acknowledge the impacts of climate change and that we needed to do something about it. This is not something that historically should be a partisan issue.

Five years ago, local leaders down here, Republicans and Democrats, formed the bipartisan Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact - an agreement to work together to fight climate change. (Applause.) And it’s become a model not just for the country, but for the world. 

It’s the type of mission that Americans from all walks of life are taking on - from the CEOs of some of our biggest corporations and utilities, to student organizations across the country. Because they know that simply refusing to say the words “climate change” doesn’t mean that climate change isn’t happening. (Applause.) 

And we know that in our own lives. If you’ve got a coming storm, you don’t stick your head in the sand; you prepare for the storm. You make sure our communities are prepared for climate change. And that’s an economic imperative. Protecting the one planet we’ve got is what we have to do for the next generation. I want Malia and Sasha not only to be able to enjoy this amazing view; I want my grandchildren - a way, way long time from now - (laughter) - to enjoy this amazing view. And their children, and their children after that. That’s what we do as Americans, take responsibility and leave behind for our children something special.

And we are blessed with the most beautiful God-given landscape in the world. (Applause.) It’s an incredible bounty that’s been given to us. But we’ve got to be good stewards for it. We have to take care of it. We only get to enjoy things like our amazing national parks because great Americans like Teddy Roosevelt and Marjory Stoneman Douglas and a whole bunch of ordinary folks whose name aren’t in the history books, they fought to protect our national inheritance. And now it’s our turn to ensure that this remains the birthright of all Americans for generations to come. So many people here are active in your communities, doing what’s needed. The young people who are here, the next generation, they’re way ahead of us in understanding how important this is. Let’s make sure we don’t disappoint them. Let’s stand up and do what’s right before it’s too late.

Thank you very much, everybody. (Applause.) Thank you."

END  3:32 P.M. EDT

THE GUARDIAN JAN 2011 - The White House energy and climate adviser is due to step down in the next few weeks, in a departure seen as the collapse of Barack Obama's ambitious green agenda. Officials told reporters on Monday night that Carol Browner, who had served as the first White House energy and climate change "tsar", would be leaving and that she may not be replaced. Reports of Browner's exit – barely 24 hours before Obama was to set out his priorities for the coming year in his state of the union address – reinforced concerns expressed by environmental groups that he was preparing further compromises on his once-ambitious green agenda to try to build a working arrangement with Republicans.

The National Ocean Policy ("NOP") strives to be the one unifying law to govern the resources of our oceans and Great Lakes in the United States. The NOP was enacted by an Executive Order of President Barack Obama on July 19, 2010. The National Ocean Policy is said to be: One Small Step for National Waters, but Will It Be the Giant Leap Needed for Our Blue Planet?"  The above is a map of the world showing the locations of the Global Ocean Commissioners, with Carol Browner representing the USA.

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts (2nd from R) administers the oath of office to U.S. President Barack Obama as first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha look on during ceremonies on the West front of the U.S Capitol.

Barack H. Obama is the 44th President of the United States. According to the Whitehouse website his story is the American story - values from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family, hard work and education as the means of getting ahead, and the conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others.

With a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, President Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. He was raised with help from his grandfather, who served in Patton's army, and his grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management at a bank.

After working his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans, President Obama moved to Chicago, where he worked with a group of churches to help rebuild communities devastated by the closure of local steel plants.

He went on to attend law school, where he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Upon graduation, he returned to Chicago to help lead a voter registration drive, teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago, and remain active in his community.

President Obama's years of public service are based around his unwavering belief in the ability to unite people around a politics of purpose. In the Illinois State Senate, he passed the first major ethics reform in 25 years, cut taxes for working families, and expanded health care for children and their parents. As a United States Senator, he reached across the aisle to pass groundbreaking lobbying reform, lock up the world's most dangerous weapons, and bring transparency to government by putting federal spending online.

He was elected the 44th President of the United States on November 4, 2008, and sworn in on January 20, 2009. He and his wife, Michelle, are the proud parents of two daughters, Malia, 14, and Sasha, 11.

LINKS & REFERENCE

Waste Management World 2014 June Obama announces action on waste plastic as plan to clean up oceans

US Dept Defense

Surfrider coastal blog national ocean policy in the ocean coastal law journal

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/04/22/remarks-president-impacts-climate-change

The Terramar Project daily catch waiting-for-obama-earth-day-in-the-everglades

Forcechange get-plastics-out-of-the-earths-oceans

Facebook.com/PlasticPollution

The Guardian environment 2014 June Kerry-ocean-security-issue-obama-overfishing-pollution

Onearth.org/earthwire/ocean-plastics

Newyorker.com/magazine/2014/01/27/going-the-distance

Chicago Tribune politics government barack-obama

Whitehouse presidents barack obama

Twitter barack obama

Facebook barack obama

washington Post blogs the fix 2015/05/26 Obama courts

The Terramar Project CIA-no-longer-shares-climate-change-data-with-scientists

Manufacturing Success 5-things-obama-learned-about-product-innovation-that-inspired-him

Greenplanet blogspot 2012 even President Obama loves plastic shopping bags

UN News

Telegraph US-royal-tour-Prince-of-Wales-makes-plea-for-cleaner-oceans

Global Ocean Commission

The Guardian June 29 2015 barack-obama-turns-tables-in-david-attenborough-climate-change-interview

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/29/barack-obama-turns-tables-in-david-attenborough-climate-change-interview

http://www.defense.gov/

http://www.surfrider.org/coastal-blog/entry/national-ocean-policy-in-the-ocean-coastal-law-journal

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/04/22/remarks-president-impacts-climate-change

http://theterramarproject.org/thedailycatch/waiting-for-obama-earth-day-in-the-everglades/

http://forcechange.com/138985/get-plastics-out-of-the-earths-oceans/

https://www.facebook.com/PlasticPollution/posts/10152491334364513

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/16/kerry-ocean-security-issue-obama-overfishing-pollution

http://www.onearth.org/earthwire/ocean-plastics

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/01/27/going-the-distance-2

http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/politics-government/government/barack-obama-PEPLT007408-topic.html

https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/barackobama

https://twitter.com/barackobama

https://www.facebook.com/barackobama

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/05/26/obama-courts/

http://theterramarproject.org/thedailycatch/cia-no-longer-shares-climate-change-data-with-scientists/

http://manufacturingsuccess.org/5-things-obama-learned-about-product-innovation-that-inspired-him

http://greenplanetwm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/even-president-obama-loves-shopping-in.html

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43430#.VYdUE1LSMSU

VIDEO 20 JUNE 2014 - Obama Announces Action on Waste Plastic as Part of Plan to Clean Up the Oceans. The U.S. State Department hosted two-day conference earlier this week which saw new executive actions announced to protect the oceans and cut marine pollution.

The Our Oceans conference drew Heads of State, Foreign Ministers, policy makers, environmentalists, scientists and entrepreneurs from nearly 90 countries.

The U.S. used the conference to highlight its Trash Free Waters program to stop waste and debris from entering the ocean, through sustainable product design, increased material recovery and reuse, and a new nationwide trash prevention ethic.

Daniella Russo, co-founder of the Plastic Pollution Coalition, announced the Think Beyond Plastic™ Innovation Forum to advance entrepreneurship and to inspire innovations to reduce global plastic pollution, including in our ocean.

Norway meanwhile, is to allocate up to $1 million for a study on measures to combat marine plastic waste and microplastics.

Part of the Action Plan agreed at the conference called for significant reductions of debris, especially plastic waste, into the marine environment so as to achieve measurable reductions of marine debris by 2025.

President Obama underlined the importance of tackling the issue in a video message to the conference which can be seen in this week’s Newscast below. [by Ben Messenger]

UN NEWS CENTRE - 7 November 2012 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warmly congratulated President Barack Obama on his re-election as President of the United States, a spokesperson for the world body's head said overnight.

“The Secretary-General looks forward to continuing to work with President Obama and his administration in the spirit of the enduring partnership between the United States and the United Nations,” Mr. Ban's spokesperson added in a statement.

According to media reports, while some results have yet to be finalized, President Obama defeated his opponent, Mitt Romney, with 303 electoral college votes compared to Mr. Romney's 206 electoral college votes. Under the US presidential voting system, a candidate needs to secure at least 270 electoral college votes to secure victory.

“Many challenges lie ahead – from ending the bloodshed in Syria, to getting the Middle East peace process back on track, to promoting sustainable development and tackling the challenges posed by climate change,” the spokesperson noted. “All will require strong multilateral cooperation.”

“The Secretary-General and the United Nations will continue to count on the active engagement of the United States on these and other crucial issues as it strives to meet the hopes and expectations of people around the world.” Ban Ki-moon is seen above with US President Barack Obama at UN Headquarters in September 2012. Photo ref: Mark Garten UN.

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