Obama warns of climate change in Yosemite Park remarks

President Obama warned of the effects of climate change in remarks from Sentinel Bridge at Yosemite National Park on Saturday.

{mosads}Obama touted the National Park System, saying it’s “a true expression of our democracy” and is something “we have in common, something we share.” 

The president touted the Every Kind in a Park initiative, launched early last year to help elementary-school children visit national parks for free, while interacting with a crowd of children. 

“We want to make sure that you and kids all around the country get a chance to use the National Parks more often,” he said, according to the White House pool report. 

Obama delivered his speech in front of Yosemite Falls, the highest waterfall in the park.

“Yes we can … enjoy this day,” Obama said as the crowd chanted his old campaign slogan as he began speaking. 

After thanking the park rangers and staff and recognizing Rep. Tom McClintock’s (R-Calif.) representation of the area, Obama mentioned the “wildfires raging across the West right now” and said rising temperatures could mean “no more glaciers at Glacier National Park, no more joshua trees at Joshua Tree National Park,” saying that is “not the America I want to pass on to the next generation.”

He called climate change the nation’s biggest challenge, noting that Yosemite’s largest glacier, once a mile wide, “now is almost gone.”

“As we look back over the last 100 years, there is a lot to celebrate. As we look to the next century, the next 100 years, the task to protecting our sacred spaces is even more important.”

The White House also announced that Obama will become the first sitting president to participate in a virtual reality video experience, with National Geographic filming a 360 video experience of the president’s park visit. 

The video experience, which will include a conversation with Yosemite Park Superintendent Don Neubacher, will be released in August to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the National Parks Service.