“Our healing of Lake Tahoe proves it is within our power to pass on the incredible bounty of this country to the next generation”, he said.
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He said leaders of the Native American Washoe Tribe, which has called Tahoe its home for thousands of years, had it right when they said the health of the land and the health of the people are tied together.
The president says he won’t have as nice of transportation, but he intends to return to Tahoe as a private citizen when he leaves office after this year.
Earlier on Wednesday, Obama stopped in to a summit about the health of Lake Tahoe, the deep alpine lake in the Sierra Nevada mountains on the Nevada-California border whose average surface temperature reached an all-time recorded high previous year.
You’ve likely seen the bumper stickers, but according to UC Davis researcher Brant Allan, who’s been studying the lake for the last 20 years, the situation may no longer be fixable through the reduction of human impacts on the lake.
Reid and Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., said since that first summit, almost $2 billion has been spent restoring Tahoe.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., praised Nevada’s Republican governor, Brian Sandoval, for his work on Lake Tahoe restoration, and California Gov.
The president planned to hail federal and local collaboration on environmental protection while announcing modest new steps on clean energy and climate resilience. Harry Reid convinced President Bill Clinton to attend the first summit. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer of California, all Democrats, in highlighting the lake as an example of progress on environmental issues.
Lake Tahoe’s loss of clarity has been fueled by housing construction, soil erosion, storm-water runoff, air pollution, automobiles and invasive aquatic species. Jerry Brown and assistant U.S. Interior Secretary Janice Schneider.
Obama is headlining the 20th anniversary summit, which is set to start at 1:30 p.m.at Harveys Outdoor Arena in Stateline, Nevada, just across the state line from South Lake Tahoe, Ca. The lake’s temperature has risen faster over the last four years than any time on record.
During his speech, Obama also announced a package of public and private initiatives aimed at restoring the withering Salton Sea and boosting geothermal energy development in the Southern California deserts.
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After his brief stop in the desert, the president will head to lusher terrain in Honolulu, where he plans a speech to a gathering of leaders of island nations in the Pacific Ocean. The latest threat to the lake warming temperatures that have altered the underwater physics dovetails with Obama’s emphasis on how America’s most treasured natural wonders are already suffering the consequences of climate change. He touted his administration’s environmental policies – including the unconstitutional Clean Power Plan, which threatens the coal industry – and talked up the Paris climate change agreement, which was created to evade a Senate ratification vote.
