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  • (applause)

  • The President: Hello, Anteaters!

  • (applause)

  • That is something I never thought I'd say.

  • (laughter)

  • Please, please take a seat.

  • To President Napolitano -- which is a nice step

  • up from Secretary; to Fred Ruiz, Vice Chair

  • of the University of California Regents; Chancellor Drake;

  • Representatives Loretta Sanchez

  • and Alan Lowenthal; to the trustees and faculty --

  • thank you for this honor.

  • And congratulations to the Class of 2014!

  • (applause)

  • Now, let me begin my saying

  • all of you had the inside track in getting me here --

  • because my personal assistant, Ferial,

  • is a proud Anteater.

  • (applause)

  • Until today, I did not understand

  • why she greets me every morning by shouting "Zot, Zot, Zot!"

  • (laughter)

  • It's been a little weird.

  • But she explained it to me on the way here

  • this morning, because she's very proud

  • to see her brother, Sina, graduate today as well.

  • (applause)

  • So, graduates, obviously we're proud

  • of you, but let's give it up for your proud family and

  • friends and professors, because

  • this is their day, too.

  • (applause)

  • And even though he's on the road this weekend,

  • I also want to thank Angels centerfielder Mike Trout

  • for letting me cover his turf for a while.

  • (applause)

  • He actually signed

  • a bat for me, which is part of my retirement plan.

  • (laughter)

  • I will be keeping that.

  • And this is a very cool place

  • to hold a commencement.

  • I know that UC Irvine's baseball team opens

  • College World Series play in Omaha right about now --

  • (applause)

  • -- so let's get this speech underway.

  • If the hot dog guy comes by, get me one.

  • (laughter)

  • Now, in additional to Ferial, graduates,

  • I'm here for a simple reason: You asked.

  • For those who don't know, the UC Irvine community

  • sent 10,000 postcards to the White House asking

  • me to come speak today.

  • (applause)

  • Some tried to guilt me into coming.

  • I got one that said, "I went to your first

  • inauguration, can you please

  • come to my graduation?"

  • (applause)

  • Some tried bribery: "I'll support the Chicago Bulls."

  • Another said today would be your birthday --

  • so happy birthday, whoever you are.

  • My personal favorite -- somebody wrote and said,

  • "We are super underrated!"

  • (laughter)

  • I'm sure she was talking

  • about this school.

  • But keep in mind, you're not only the number-one

  • university in America younger than 50 years old,

  • you also hold the Guinness World Record

  • for biggest water pistol fight.

  • (applause)

  • You're pretty excited about that.

  • (laughter)

  • "We are super underrated."

  • This young lady could have just as well been talking,

  • though, about this generation.

  • I think this generation of young people

  • is super underrated.

  • In your young lives, you've seen dizzying

  • change, from terror attacks

  • to economic turmoil; from Twitter to Tumblr.

  • Some of your families have known tough times

  • during the course of the worst economic crisis

  • since the Great Depression.

  • You're graduating into a still-healing job market,

  • and some of you are carrying student

  • loan debt that you're concerned about.

  • And yet, your generation -- the most educated,

  • the most diverse, the most tolerant,

  • the most politically independent and the most digitally

  • fluent in our history -- is also on record

  • as being the most optimistic about our future.

  • And I'm here to tell you that you are right

  • to be optimistic.

  • (applause)

  • You are right to be optimistic.

  • Consider this: Since the time most of you graduated

  • from high school, fewer Americans are at war.

  • More have health insurance.

  • More are graduating from college.

  • Our businesses have added more than

  • 9 million new jobs.

  • The number of states where you're free

  • to marry who you love has more than doubled.

  • (applause)

  • And that's just some of the progress

  • that you've seen while you've been studying

  • here at UC Irvine.

  • But we do face real challenges:

  • Rebuilding the middle class and reversing inequality's rise.

  • Reining in college costs.

  • Protecting voting rights.

  • Welcoming the immigrants and young dreamers

  • who keep this country vibrant.

  • Stemming the tide of violence

  • that guns inflict on our schools.

  • We've got some big challenges.

  • And if you're fed a steady diet of cynicism

  • that says nobody is trustworthy and nothing works,

  • and there's no way we can actually address these problems,

  • then the temptation is too just go it alone,

  • to look after yourself and not participate in the larger

  • project of achieving our best vision of America.

  • And I'm here to tell you,

  • don't believe the cynicism.

  • Guard against it.

  • Don't buy into it.

  • Today, I want to use one case study

  • to show you that progress is possible

  • and perseverance is critical.

  • I want to show you how badly we need you --

  • both your individual voices and your collective efforts --

  • to give you the chance you seek to change the world,

  • and maybe even save it.

  • I'm going to talk about one of the most

  • significant long-term challenges

  • that our country and our planet faces:

  • the growing threat of a rapidly changing climate.

  • Now, this isn't a policy speech.

  • I understand it's a commencement,

  • and I already delivered a long climate

  • address last summer.

  • I remember because it was 95 degrees

  • and my staff had me do it outside, and I was pouring

  • with sweat -- as a visual aid.

  • (laughter)

  • And since this is a very educated group,

  • you already know the science.

  • Burning fossil fuels release carbon dioxide.

  • Carbon dioxide traps heat.

  • Levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere

  • are higher than they've been in 800,000 years.

  • We know the trends.

  • The 18 warmest years on record have

  • all happened since you graduates were born.

  • We know what we see with our own eyes.

  • Out West, firefighters brave longer, harsher

  • wildfire seasons; states have to budget for that.

  • Mountain towns worry about what smaller

  • snowpacks mean for tourism.

  • Farmers and families at the bottom worry

  • about what it will mean for their water.

  • In cities like Norfolk and Miami, streets

  • now flood frequently at high tide.

  • Shrinking icecaps have National Geographic

  • making the biggest change in its atlas since

  • the Soviet Union broke apart.

  • So the question is not whether we need to act.

  • The overwhelming judgment of science,

  • accumulated and measured and reviewed over decades,

  • has put that question to rest.

  • The question is whether we have the will

  • to act before it's too late.

  • For if we fail to protect the world we leave

  • not just to my children, but to your children

  • and your children's children, we will fail

  • one of our primary reasons for being on this world

  • in the first place.

  • And that is to leave the world a little

  • bit better for the next generation.

  • Now, the good is you already know all this.

  • UCIrvine set up the first Earth System Science

  • Department in America.

  • applause)

  • A UC Irvine professor-student

  • team won the Nobel Prize for discovering that CFCs

  • destroy the ozone layer.

  • (applause)

  • A UC Irvine glaciologist's work

  • led to one of last month's report showing

  • one of the world's major ice sheets in irreversible retreat.

  • Students and professors are in the field

  • working to predict changing weather patterns,

  • fire seasons, and water tables -- working to understand

  • how shifting seasons affect global ecosystems;

  • to get zero-emission vehicles

  • on the road faster; to help coastal communities

  • adapt to rising seas.

  • And when I challenge colleges to reduce

  • their energy use to 20 percent by 2020,

  • UC Irvine went ahead and did it last year.

  • Done.

  • (applause)

  • So UC Irvine is ahead of the curve.

  • All of you are ahead of the curve.

  • Your generation reminds me of something

  • President Wilson once said.

  • He said, "Sometimes people call me an idealist.

  • Well, that is the way I know I am an American."

  • That's who we are.

  • And if you need a reason to be optimistic about

  • our future, then look around this stadium.

  • Because today, in America, the largest single

  • age group is 22 years ago.

  • And you are going to do great things.

  • And I want you to know that I've got your back --

  • because one of the reasons I ran for this office

  • was because I believed our dangerous addiction

  • to foreign oil left our economy at risk

  • and our planet in peril.

  • So when I took office, we set out to use more

  • clean energy and less dirty energy,

  • and waste less energy overall.

  • And since then, we've doubled the distance

  • our cars will go on a gallon of gas by the middle

  • of the next decade.

  • We've tripled the electricity we harness

  • from the wind, generating enough last year

  • to power every home in California.

  • We've multiplied the electricity

  • we generate from the sun 10 times over.

  • And this state, California,

  • is so far ahead of the rest of the country in solar,

  • that earlier this year solar power met 18 percent

  • of your total power demand one day.

  • (applause)

  • The bottom line is, America produces more

  • renewable energy than ever,

  • more natural gas than anyone.

  • And for the first time in nearly two decades,

  • we produce more oil here at home than

  • we buy from other countries.

  • And these advances have created jobs

  • and grown our economy, and helped cut our carbon pollution

  • to levels not seen in about 20 years.

  • Since 2006, no country on Earth has reduced

  • its total carbon pollution by as much

  • as the United States of America.

  • (applause)

  • So that's all reason for optimism.

  • Here's the challenge: We've got to do more.

  • What we're doing is not enough.

  • And that's why, a couple weeks ago,

  • America proposed new standards to limit the amount

  • of harmful carbon pollution that power plants

  • can dump into the air.

  • And we also have to realize, as hundreds

  • of scientists declared last month, that climate change

  • is no longer a distant threat,

  • but "has moved firmly into the present."

  • That's a quote.

  • In some parts of the country, weather-related

  • disasters like droughts, and fires, and storms,

  • and floods are going to get harsher

  • and they're going to get costlier.

  • And that's why, today, I'm announcing

  • a new $1 billion competitive fund to help communities

  • prepare for the impacts of climate change

  • and build more resilient infrastructure

  • across the country.

  • (applause)

  • So it's a big problem.

  • But progress, no matter

  • how big the problem, is possible.

  • That's important to remember.

  • Because no matter what you do in life,

  • you're going to run up against big problems --

  • in your own personal life and in your communities

  • and in your country.

  • There's going to be a stubborn status quo,

  • and there are going to be people determined

  • to stymie your efforts to bring about change.

  • There are going to be people

  • who say you can't do something.

  • There are going to be people

  • who say you shouldn't bother.

  • I've got some experience in this myself.

  • (laughter)

  • Now, part of what's unique about climate change,

  • though, is the nature of some

  • of the opposition to action.

  • It's pretty rare that you'll encounter somebody

  • who says the problem you're trying

  • to solve simply doesn't exist.

  • When President Kennedy set us on a course

  • for the moon, there were a number of people who made

  • a serious case that it wouldn't be worth it;

  • it was going to be too expensive,

  • it was going to be too hard, it would take too long.

  • But nobody ignored the science.

  • I don't remember anybody saying that

  • the moon wasn't there or that it was made of cheese.

  • (laughter)

  • And today's Congress, though, is full

  • of folks who stubbornly and automatically reject

  • the scientific evidence about climate change.

  • They will tell you it is a hoax, or a fad.

  • One member of Congress actually says the world

  • is cooling.

  • There was one member of Congress who mentioned

  • a theory involving "dinosaur flatulence" --

  • which I won't get into.

  • (laughter)

  • Now, their view may be wrong --

  • and a fairly serious threat to everybody's future --

  • but at least they have the brass

  • to say what they actually think.

  • There are some who also duck the question.

  • They say -- when they're asked about climate

  • change, they say, "Hey, look,

  • I'm not a scientist."

  • And I'll translate that for you.

  • What that really means is, "I know that manmade

  • climate change really is happening,

  • but if I admit it, I'll be run out of town by a radical

  • fringe that thinks climate science is a liberal plot,

  • so I'm not going to admit it."

  • (applause)

  • Now, I'm not a scientist either, but we've

  • got some really good ones at NASA.

  • I do know that the overwhelming majority

  • of scientists who work on climate change,

  • including some who once disputed the data,

  • have put that debate to rest.

  • The writer, Thomas Friedman,

  • recently put it to me this way.

  • He were talking, and he says, "Your kid is sick,

  • you consult 100 doctors; 97 of them tell

  • you to do this, three tell (you) to do that, and you want

  • to go with the three?"

  • The fact is, this should not be a partisan issue.

  • After all, it was Republicans who used

  • to lead the way on new ideas

  • to protect our environment.

  • It was Teddy Roosevelt who first pushed

  • for our magnificent national parks.

  • It was Richard Nixon who signed

  • the Clean Air Act and opened the EPA.

  • George H.W. Bush

  • -- a wonderful man who at 90 just jumped

  • out of a plane in a parachute -- (laughter) --

  • said that "human activities are changing the atmosphere

  • in unexpected and unprecedented ways."

  • John McCain and other Republicans publicly

  • supported free market-based cap-and-trade

  • bills to slow carbon pollution just a few years

  • ago -- before the Tea Party decided

  • it was a massive threat to freedom and liberty.

  • These days, unfortunately, nothing is happening.

  • Even minor energy efficiency bills

  • are killed on the Senate floor.

  • And the reason is because people are thinking about

  • politics instead of thinking about what's

  • good for the next generation.

  • What's the point of public office if you're not going

  • to use your power to help solve problems?

  • (applause)

  • And part of the challenge is that the media

  • doesn't spend a lot of time covering climate change

  • and letting average Americans know how

  • it could impact our future.

  • Now, the broadcast networks' nightly

  • newscasts spend just a few minutes

  • a month covering climate issues.

  • On cable, the debate is usually between political

  • pundits, not scientists.

  • When we introduced those new anti-pollution

  • standards a couple weeks ago, the instant

  • reaction from the Washington's political press wasn't

  • about what it would mean for our planet;

  • it was what would it mean for an election

  • six months from now.

  • And that kind of misses the point.

  • Of course, they're not scientists, either.

  • And I want to tell you all this

  • not to discourage you.

  • I'm telling you all this because

  • I want to light a fire under you.

  • As the generation getting shortchanged by inaction

  • on this issue, I want all of you to understand

  • you cannot accept that this is the way it has to be.

  • The climate change deniers suggest there's still

  • a debate over the science.

  • There is not.

  • The talking heads on cable news suggest

  • public opinion is hopelessly deadlocked.

  • It is not.

  • Seven in ten Americans say global warming

  • is a serious problem.

  • Seven in ten say the federal government

  • should limit pollution from our power plants.

  • And of all the issues in a recent poll asking

  • Americans where we think we can make a difference,

  • protecting the environment came out on top.

  • (applause)

  • So we've got public opinion potentially

  • on our side.

  • We can do this.

  • We can make a difference.

  • You can make a difference.

  • And the sooner you do, the better --

  • not just for our climate, but for our economy.

  • There's a reason that more than 700 businesses

  • like Apple and Microsoft, and GM and Nike, Intel,

  • Starbucks have declared that "tackling climate

  • change is one of America's greatest economic

  • opportunities in the 21st century."

  • The country that seizes this opportunity

  • first will lead the way.

  • A low-carbon, clean energy economy can

  • be an engine for growth and jobs for decades to come,

  • and I want America to build that engine.

  • Because if we do, others will follow.

  • I want those jobs; I want those opportunities;

  • I want those businesses right here

  • in the United States of America.

  • (applause)

  • Developing countries are using more

  • and more energy, and tens of millions of people

  • are entering the global middle class,

  • and they want to buy cars and refrigerators.

  • So if we don't deal with this problem soon,

  • we're going to be overwhelmed.

  • These nations have some of the fastest-rising

  • levels of carbon pollution.

  • They're going to have to take action

  • to meet this challenge.

  • They're more vulnerable to the effects

  • of climate change than we are.

  • They've got even more to lose.

  • But they're waiting to see what does America do.

  • That's what the world does.

  • It waits to watch us act.

  • And when we do, they move.

  • And I'm convinced that on this issue,

  • when America proves what's possible,

  • then they're going to join us.

  • And America cannot meet this threat alone.

  • Of course, the world cannot meet

  • it without America.

  • This is a fight that America must lead.

  • So I'm going to keep doing my part for as long

  • as I hold this office and as long as I'm a citizen

  • once out of office.

  • But we're going to need you, the next generation,

  • to finish the job.

  • We need scientists to design new fuels.

  • We need farmers to help grow them.

  • We need engineers to invent new technologies.

  • We need entrepreneurs to sell those technologies.

  • (applause)

  • We need workers to operate assembly lines

  • that hum with high-tech, zero-carbon components.

  • We need builders to hammer into place

  • the foundations for a clean energy age.

  • We need diplomats and businessmen and women,

  • and Peace Corps volunteers to help developing nations

  • skip past the dirty phase of development

  • and transition to sustainable sources of energy.

  • In other words, we need you.

  • (applause)

  • We need you.

  • And if you believe, like I do, that something

  • has to be done on this, then you're going

  • to have to speak out.

  • You're going to have to learn

  • more about these issues.

  • Even if you're not like Jessica and an expert,

  • you're going to have to work on this.

  • You're going to have to push those

  • of us in power to do what this American moment demands.

  • You've got to educate your classmates,

  • and colleagues, and family members

  • and fellow citizens, and tell them what's at stake.

  • You've got to push back against

  • the misinformation, and speak out for facts,

  • and organize others around your vision

  • for the future.

  • You need to invest in what helps,

  • and divest from what harms.

  • And you've got to remind everyone who represents

  • you, at every level of government,

  • that doing something about climate change

  • is a prerequisite for your vote.

  • It's no accident that when President Kennedy needed

  • to convince the nation that sending Americans

  • into space was a worthy goal,

  • he went to a university.

  • That's where he started.

  • Because a challenge as big as that, as costly

  • as that, as difficult as that,

  • requires a spirit of youth.

  • It requires a spirit of adventure;

  • a willingness to take risks.

  • It requires optimism.

  • It requires hope.

  • That day, a man told us we'd

  • go to the moon within a decade.

  • And despite all the naysayers, somehow

  • we knew as a nation that we'd build a spaceship

  • and we'd meet that goal.

  • That's because we're Americans --

  • and that's what we do.

  • Even when our political system is consumed

  • by small things, we are a people called

  • to do big things.

  • And progress on climate change is a big thing.

  • Progress won't always be flashy;

  • it will be measured in disasters averted, and lives saved,

  • and a planet preserved -- and days just

  • like this one, 20 years from now, and 50 years from

  • now, and 100 years from now.

  • But can you imagine a more worthy goal -- a more

  • worthy legacy -- than protecting the world

  • we leave to our children?

  • So I ask your generation to help leave

  • us that legacy.

  • I ask you to believe in yourselves

  • and in one another, and above all, when life gets you down

  • or somebody tells you you can't do something,

  • to believe in something better.

  • There are people here who know what

  • it means to dream.

  • When Mohamad Abedi was a boy, the suffering

  • he saw in refugee camps in Lebanon didn't drive

  • him into despair -- it inspired

  • him to become a doctor.

  • And when he came to America, he discovered

  • a passion for engineering.

  • So here, at UC Irvine, he became

  • a biomedical engineer to study the human brain.

  • (applause)

  • And Mohamad said, "Had I never come

  • to the United States, I would have never

  • had the ability to do the work that I'm doing."

  • He's now going to CalTech to keep doing that work.

  • Cinthia Flores is the daughter

  • of a single mom who worked as a seamstress and a housekeeper.

  • (applause)

  • The first in her family

  • to graduate from high school.

  • The first in her family to graduate from college.

  • And in college, she says, "I learned about myself

  • that I was good at advocating for others,

  • and that I was argumentative -- so maybe I should

  • go to law school."

  • And, today, Cinthia is now the first in her family

  • to graduate from law school.

  • And she plans to advocate for the rights

  • of workers like her mom.

  • (applause)

  • She says, "I have the great privilege

  • and opportunity to answer the call of my community."

  • "The bottom line," she says,

  • "is being of service."

  • On 9/11, Aaron Anderson

  • was a sophomore in college.

  • Several months later, he was in training

  • for Army Special Forces.

  • He fought in Afghanistan, and on February 28th,

  • 2006, he was nearly killed by an IED.

  • He endured dozens of surgeries

  • to save his legs, months of recovery at Walter Reed.

  • When he couldn't physically return

  • to active duty, he devoted his time

  • to his brothers in arms, starting two businesses

  • with fellow veterans, and a foundation to help fellow

  • wounded Green Beret soldiers.

  • And then he went back to school.

  • And last December, he graduated

  • summa cum laude from UC Irvine.

  • And Aaron is here today, along with four soon-to-be

  • commissioned ROTC cadets,

  • and 65 other graduating veterans.

  • And I would ask them to stand and be recognized

  • for their service.

  • (applause)

  • The point is, you know how to dream.

  • And you know how to work for your dreams.

  • And, yes, sometimes you may be "super underrated."

  • But you know, usually it's the underrated, the underdogs,

  • the dreamers, the idealists,

  • the fighters, the argumentative -- those are the folks

  • who do the biggest things.

  • And this generation -- this 9/11 generation of

  • soldiers; this new generation of scientists

  • and advocates and entrepreneurs

  • and altruists -- you're the antidote to cynicism.

  • It doesn't mean you're not going

  • to get down sometimes.

  • You will.

  • You'll know disillusionment.

  • You'll experience doubt.

  • People will disappoint you by their actions.

  • But that can't discourage you.

  • Cynicism has never won a war, or cured a disease,

  • or started a business, or fed a young mind, or sent

  • men into space.

  • Cynicism is a choice.

  • Hope is a better choice.

  • (applause)

  • Hope is what gave young soldiers the courage

  • to storm a beach and liberate people they never met.

  • Hope is what gave young students the strength

  • to sit in and stand up and march for women's rights,

  • and civil rights, and voting rights,

  • and gay rights, and immigration rights.

  • Hope is the belief, against all evidence

  • to the contrary, that there are better days ahead,

  • and that together we can build up a middle class,

  • and reshape our immigration system, and shield

  • our children from gun violence, and shelter

  • future generations from the ravages

  • of climate change.

  • Hope is the fact that, today, the single largest

  • age group in America is 22 years old who

  • are all just itching to reshape this country

  • and reshape the world.

  • And I cannot wait to see what you do tomorrow.

  • Congratulations.

  • (applause)

  • Thank you, Class of 2014.

  • God bless you.

  • God bless the United States of America.

  • (applause)

(applause)

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歐巴馬總統在加州大學-爾灣分校畢業典禮上講話 (President Obama Speaks at UC-Irvine Commencement Ceremony)

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    金花 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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