Obama Declares Nobel Peace Prize 'A Call to Action'

“I will accept this award as a call to action.”

Those were President Barack Obama's words this morning in his first public statement as the 2009 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, an award given in part for his position on climate change.

Environmentalists and people around the world who are beginning to feel the effects of global warming will be watching for a strong follow-through on that bold declaration.

So far, they’ve heard speeches from the U.S. president filled with hope and with promises of action to stop climate change, but words alone don’t help drought-stricken families in India, where the rice crop is in trouble, or in Somalia, where even the camels are dying. Words won’t save the Maldives islanders from the rising seas.

Environmental groups are looking for the actions they expected when they celebrated Obama’s election almost a year ago, and they’re worried that his vision of change has been dulled by Washington's culture of politics as usual.

The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize should increase global pressure on the president to stand up to the naysayers and to prove he can get things done for the betterment of humanity. Obama must now meet that responsibility, environmental groups say, and invest his reputation in securing a worthwhile U.S. climate law and personally negotiating a global climate treaty at Copenhagen.

In his comments to the media this morning, the president said he was surprised and humbled by the Nobel Committee's call. He said he realized the award wasn't recognition of his own achievements but of American leadership, and that he didn’t feel he deserved to be in the company of men and women who had done so much to change the world for the better. However, he said,

“I also know this prize reflects the kind of world that those men and women and all Americans want to build.”

"And I know that throughout history, the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement, it's also been used to give momentum to a set of causes. And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action. A call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century. These challenges cannot be met by any one leader or any one nation."

Speaking to the challenge of climate change, Obama said,

“We cannot accept the growing threat posed by climate change, which could forever damage the world that we pass on to our children, sewing conflict and famine, destroying coastlines and emptying cities. That’s why all nations must now accept their share of responsibility for transforming the way that we use energy.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it took into consideration the president’s position on climate change, his desire to stop nuclear proliferation, and his shifting of the U.S. tone in international relations and cooperation in making its choice. The committee's statement:

“The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.

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