WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama is opening a two-day environmental tour aimed at showcasing conservation efforts before traveling to Asia, where climate change is high on the agenda for his final trip to the region.
In Nevada on Wednesday, Obama plans to visit Lake Tahoe and speak at a summit dedicated to the iconic lake’s preservation. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who also is in his final year in office, has hosted the summit for 20 years and asked Obama to attend. The president planned to hail federal and local collaboration on environmental protection while announcing modest new steps on clean energy and climate resilience.
The White House said the Interior Department is dedicating $29.5 million to projects to improve forest health and reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires in or near the Lake Tahoe region. The Environmental Protection Agency, meanwhile, is spending a smaller sum to improve the quality of the lake’s water by managing and reducing stormwater runoff in the region.
After the Tahoe stop, the president will head to the lush terrain in Honolulu, where he plans a speech to a gathering of leaders of island nations in the Pacific Ocean. The setting provides Obama a chance to emphasize a theme he’s returned to frequently in his climate campaign: that remote islands are the most vulnerable to rising sea levels and should help lead the fight to slow global warming.
To that end, Obama on Thursday planned an unusual presidential visit to Midway Atoll, a speck of land halfway between Asia and North America. Part of the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands, Midway played a key role for the U.S. military in World War II and was the site of a pivotal battle with Japan. Midway sits inside the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, which President George W. Bush created and Obama expanded last week, making it the world’s largest protected stretch of ocean.