Linking climate change to devastating weather and fires, Obama said the country could grow its economy while protecting itself from the worst effects of a phenomenon scientists say is getting worse due to man-made pollutants.

"We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations," the president said, dedicating more than a minute of his roughly 20-minute address to the issue.

By pointing to the topic in detail in his second Inaugural Address, the Democratic president committed the White House to try to mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases - an area where he had uneven success during his first four years in office.