U.S. President Barack Obama
U.S. President Barack Obama answers a question at a news conference at the conclusion of the NATO Summit at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales September 5, 2014. Reuters

President Barack Obama is set to pay greater attention to climate change and push the issue to the frontline of his agenda to leave an enduring imprint on the world. This will be more marked in rest of his term spread in the next two years. Political analysts say the climate push of Mr. Obama for his remaining term of two years will see it transcending the concerns on global warming and also looks like a reaction driven by the latest political reality from the midterms.

Midterm Effect

On Nov 4, the Democrats faced a big rout in Senate polls and saw Obama's goals on education, wages and immigration getting a strong rebuff from voters, and in the rebuke, they put Republicans in control of the Congress for the remainder of his presidency, reported Associated Press. However, a trip to Asia and Australia has shown Obama making the climate change a pet platform for making a lasting difference on the global warming issue.

A Washington Post report described how White House is forging ahead with its climate change agenda and even bragging that Republicans are powerless to stop it. A presidential task force on Monday unveiled a report on how communities across the country are preparing for the effects of global warming. It also launched a Web site- toolkit.climate.gov - giving officials the access to federal resources to combat global warming. However, all these recommendations on "climate preparedness and resilience" would cost the federal government more than $100 billion for protecting drinking water supplies, shoring up coastlines and other measures.

Deal with China

By making a climate deal with China, Mr. Obama also pushed the US into making an ambitious target for cutting future emissions to persuade China to rein in its own pollution problems. In Australia, Mr. Obama pledged $3 billion to poor nations for addressing the issue of changing temperatures. He also advised Australia's prime minister to stop questioning the wisdom of climate change.

"We're showing there's no excuse for other nations in not coming together on climate change," Mr. Obama said in Brisbane, where he also urged leaders of the world's 20 largest economies to join hands. At the domestic front, Obama administration has a goal to cut emissions at least 26 percent by 2025, by relying on existing legal authorities, than awaiting future action from the Congress. As a result, pollution limits are coming up for U.S. power plants and new standards for automobiles to lower the emissions.