Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz pushed the president's climate action plan Monday and admonished Congress for failing to address global warming.
"Today, more than any time in our history, the global community is understanding the serious threat of climate change," Moniz said in remarks delivered at the American Nuclear Society's 2013 winter meeting and technology expo in Washington. "This is the driving force behind President Obama's action to put forward a strong climate action plan."
Firing a volley at lawmakers, Moniz added: "Legislation would be very welcome in this context, but for the moment, at least, the plan is based entirely on existing authorities and, therefore, we should expect that this plan will be implemented over these next years."
The Energy secretary emphasized that nuclear power has an important role to play in the climate action plan as a low-carbon source of energy, but he was quick to add that the technology is just one part of a complex puzzle assembled by policymakers to diversify the U.S. energy portfolio and lessen the effects of global warming.
"We are committed to pursuing the so-called all-of-the-above approach to energy, developing all of our domestic energy sources for a low-carbon world, be it coal, natural gas, nuclear, renewables, biofuels, [or] efficiency," he said.