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"President Barack Obama required federal agencies on Friday to present plans to combat climate change. An executive order mandated steps to make it easier for communities "to strengthen their resilience to extreme weather and prepare for other impacts of climate change," according to a White House statement. It also creates an interagency Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, charged with overseeing federal efforts at fighting climate change."

"President Obama believes we have a moral obligation to lead the fight against carbon pollution. Share the details of his plan to help make sure people in your community get the facts:"

"Buried in a little-noticed rule on microwave ovens is a change in the U.S. government's accounting for carbon emissions that could have wide-ranging implications for everything from power plants to the Keystone XL pipeline. The increase of the so-called social cost of carbon, to $US38 ($A40) a metric ton in 2015 from $US23.80, adjusts the calculation the government uses to weigh costs and benefits of proposed regulations. The figure is meant to approximate losses from global warming such as flood damage and diminished crops. (That figure also compares with the $A23 per tonne carbon tax in Australia.)"

"Along with President Obama's landmark speech on strong U.S. climate action, the White House has issued a statement with key points about the Administration's new climate plan. It's important to know that the actions will not need the approval of the notoriously gridlocked Congress. The plans aims to take action in the following ways."

"Obama has set a new goal of having 20 percent of the federal government's energy use come from renewable power by 2020, which includes the Army, Navy, and Air Force deploying a combined 3 gigawatts of renewable energy by the end of the decade."

"What's happening in Australia is vastly different than what's happened in the United States. Sure, we've had climate skeptics, contrarians, and deniers in positions of power or in control of parties. Or news networks. But here in the United States, climate change has never taken center stage in national politics. During last year's Presidential campaign, it scarcely escaped the lips of either Obama or Romney, and the campaign press corps did little to end the silence."