India, China Must be Responsible to Combat Climate Change: U.S.

WASHINGTON: Moments after releasing a report on the impact of climate change in the U.S., the White House has said it is essential that countries with high carbon emission, such as Indian and China, be responsible in addressing this major challenge.

"It is absolutely essential that nations that produce high levels of carbon emissions be responsible in addressing this challenge," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters during his daily news conference when asked about India and China.

Carney said it is in the national security interest of the U.S. to reduce dependence on import of energy.

"It is absolutely in our national security interests and energy interests to diversify our sources of energy. And that is why approaching this as a whole as opposed to addressing each piece of it is essential to improving both our preparation for the impacts of climate change and enhancing our capacity to actually mitigate the damage that climate change can cause," he said.

The White House Press Secretary said the impacts of climate change on weather are severe.

"There was much discussion about that around the so-called polar vortex that we experienced here and other areas of the country experienced. I think that the fact that the severe winter that much of the country endured had an impact on GDP wasn't an assessment that we here alone made, but economists, independent, on the outside, made and that nobody disagrees with," he said.