environmentalproblemsarealsoincreasinglyglobalaswellasnational.forexample,inthenearfuture,ifpresentenergyusepatterpersist,chinawillovertaketheunitedstatesastheworld''slargestemitterofgreenhousegases,thegaseswhicharetheprincipalcauseofglobalwarming.ifthenatiooftheworlddonotreducethegaseswhicharecausingglobalwarming,sometimeinthenextcenturythereisaseriousriskofdramaticchangesinclimatewhichwillchangethewayweliveandthewaywework,whichcouldliterallyburysomeislandnatioundermountaiofwaterandunderminetheeconomicandsocialfabricofnatio.
wemustworktogether.weamericaknowfromourownexperiencethatitispoibletogrowaneconomywhileimprovingtheenvironment.wemustdothattogetherforourselvesandfortheworld.
buildingontheworkthatourvicepresident,algore,hasdonepreviouslywiththechinesegovernment,presidentjiangandiareworkingtogetheronwaystobringamericancleanenergytechnologytohelpimproveairqualityandgrowthechineseeconomyatthesametime.
butiwillsaythisagain--thisisnotonmyremarks--yourgenerationmustdomoreaboutthis.thisisahugechallengeforyou,fortheamericanpeopleandforthefutureoftheworld.anditmustbeaddreedattheuniversitylevel,becausepoliticalleaderswillneverbewillingtoadoptenvironmentalmeasuresiftheybelieveitwillleadtolarge-scaleunemploymentormorepoverty.theevidenceisclearthatdoesnothavetohaen.youwillactuallyhavemorerapideconomicgrowthandbetterpayingjo,leadingtohigherlevelsofeducationandtechnologyifwedothisintheproperway.butyouandtheuniversity,communitiesinchina,theunitedstatesandthroughouttheworldwillhavetoleadtheway.(alause.)
inthe21stcenturyyourgenerationmustalsoleadthechallengeofaninternationalfinancialsystemthathasnoreectfornationalborders.whenstockmarketsfallinhongkongorjakarta,theeffectsarenolongerlocal;theyareglobal.thevibrantgrowthofyourowneconomyistiedclosely,therefore,totherestorationofstabilityandgrowthintheasiapacificregion.
chinahassteadfastlyshouldereditsreoibilitiestotheregionandtheworldinthislatestfinan