President Obama delivered his 2015 State of the Union address Tuesday night, promising to cut industrial carbon pollution and continue clean energy progress through his Clean Power Plan while highlighting his recent expansions of public lands protections.
 
Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, said today:

"President Obama rightfully cheered solar and wind energy progress that’s fueling our economy while reducing pollution. The federal government and states must keep pushing to expand that progress this year as we tap America’s next energy frontier, offshore wind - with proper siting, a clean, reliable, wildlife-friendly energy source.
 
"Wildlife represents one area with enormous potential for progress over the next two years. There is already bipartisan support for reauthorizing and fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund, enhancing sportsmen access to public lands, conserving iconic landscapes across the Rocky Mountain West and reducing federal subsidies that harm the environment.
 
"The President can also leave a lasting legacy for future generations by finalizing new clean air rules to limit pollution from existing power plants and clean water rules that protect millions of acres of wetlands and streams. The result of these efforts will not only protect fish and wildlife but lead to cleaner air and water, more livable communities and economic progress.
 
"From the moose in our deep woods to the monarch butterflies in our own backyards, wildlife is telling us to pay attention and, as National Wildlife Federation founder Ding Darling famously said, we must speak for wildlife because they can’t speak for themselves. I hope one day we look back on 2015 as the year we put America’s wildlife back on solid ground."