Obama’s climate change challenge meant for Canada’s ears: ambassador

OTTAWA – The U.S. ambassador to Canada says President Barack Obama’s State of the Union message to act swiftly on climate change should be interpreted as a challenge to Ottawa as well.

Obama used Tuesday’s speech to present Congress with a choice: either agree to market-based solutions to climate change, or else the president will use his executive powers to achieve the same result.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Ambassador David Jacobson says the president is deeply concerned about greenhouse gas emissions, and wants both the U.S. and Canada to do everything they can to take action.

Policy experts say Obama’s comments put the federal government in a difficult position because it risks being left behind by its sector-by-sector approach to controlling emissions.

But Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver says Obama’s speech does not make him feel any differently about the federal approach.