Highlights of Obama's climate plan

Highlights of President Barack Obama's national plan to combat climate change

President Barack Obama unveiled a sweeping plan Tuesday to combat climate change and prepare the U.S. and other nations for its effects. Some highlights of the president's plan:

REDUCE POLLUTION

— Issue a presidential memorandum to launch the first-ever federal regulations on carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants.

— Finalize proposed limits on carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants without further delay.

— Provide up to $8 billion in federal loan guarantees to spur investment in efficiency projects and advanced fossil energy, including technology to limit carbon emissions.

— Expand permitting for renewable energy projects like wind and solar on public lands, with a goal of powering more than 6 million homes by 2020.

— Set a goal of installing 100 megawatts of renewable energy projects on federally assisted housing projects by 2020.

— Take more aggressive steps to increase efficiency for appliances and federal buildings, with a goal of reducing carbon dioxide pollution by 3 billion metric tons overall by 2030.

— Develop fuel-economy standards for heavy-duty vehicles.

PREPARE FOR CLIMATE CHANGE

— Create a National Drought Resilience Partnership to help communities, farmers and landowners prepare for droughts and wildfires.

— Promote climate change preparedness by creating a toolkit for local governments and businesses, and by partnering with hospitals.

— Update flood risk reduction standards that all federally funded projects must meet.

GLOBAL EFFORTS

— Work with China, India and other major polluting countries to reduce emissions.

— End U.S. public financing for new coal-fired power plants in other countries. Plants in the poorest countries using the most efficient technology available would be exempt.