Clinton sets ambitious goals to tackle climate change

Aimed at making the US a clean energy super power, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has set ambitious target of having enough renewable energy in place to power every home in America within 10 years.

"We'll set a 10-year goal of generating enough renewable energy to power every single home in America," Clinton said in her first major policy speech on climate change, adding that if elected in her first term as the US president, she would have more than half a billion solar panels installed across the country by the end of her first term.

In her speech in Iowa, Clinton said she will lay out a comprehensive agenda for meeting these national goals and going even further to address the broader climate challenge.

"We will make America the world's clean energy superpower," Clinton said, adding that she would set these two ambitious goals on day one of her presidency.

Clinton also criticised the Republican presidential candidates, who generally dismiss the notion of climate change.

"We will develop and deploy the clean energy technologies of the future. Transform our grid to give Americans more control over the energy they produce and consume. And yes, I will defend President Obama's Clean Power Plant -- Clean Power

Plan against attacks from Republicans and their corporate backers," she said.

"We'll launch a Clean Energy Challenge that supports and partners with states, cities, and rural communities that are ready to lead on clean energy," Clinton said.

"We'll stop the giveaways to big oil companies and extend, instead, tax incentives for clean energy, while making them more cost-effective for both taxpayers and producers," she added.

Image: Hillary Clinton; Photograph: Reuters