--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Unless we free ourselves from a…" description: "\"Unless we free ourselves from a dependence on these fossil fuels... we are condemning future generations to global catastrophe\" — Barack Obama" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/437/barack-obama-17_catastrophe_unless-we-free-ourselves-from-a-dependen_1426892.jpg" --- # Unless we free ourselves from a dependence on these fossil… ![“Unless we free ourselves from a dependence on these fossil fuels... we are condemning future generations to global catastrophe” quote by Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/437/barack-obama-17_catastrophe_unless-we-free-ourselves-from-a-dependen_1426892.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/437/barack-obama-17_catastrophe_unless-we-free-ourselves-from-a-dependen_1426892.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/437/barack-obama-17_catastrophe_unless-we-free-ourselves-from-a-dependen_1426892.jpg) > “Unless we free ourselves from a dependence on these fossil fuels... we are condemning future generations to global catastrophe” [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Relying on fossil fuels endangers future generations; transitioning to clean energy is essential for survival. **In simple terms:** Fossil fuels threaten future. Key Takeaway Promote renewable energy and reduce dependence. Themes environment future generations energy policy Mood urgent determined Type political motivational When to use this quote - government policy - corporate strategy - public advocacy Key Concepts climate science sustainable development Questions to Reflect On - What steps can we take today to reduce fossil reliance? - How can we motivate others to support clean energy? A Different Perspective Economic transition may face resistance and cost challenges. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Catastrophe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/catastrophe/) [Climate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate/) [Climate change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate-change/) [Dependence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dependence/) [Environmental sustainability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environmental-sustainability/) [Fossil fuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fossil-fuel/) [Fossil fuels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fossil-fuels/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Future generation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future-generation/) [Future generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/future-generations/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Green living](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/green-living/) [Save our planet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/save-our-planet/) ## Related quotes > [The issue of climate change is one that we ignore at our own peril](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/the-issue-of-climate-change-is-one-that-we-ignore-at-our-own-peril-2/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [What we can be scientifically certain of is that our continued use of fossil fuels is pushing us to a point of no return](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/what-we-can-be-scientifically-certain-of-is-that-our-continued-use-of/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Forests are the lungs of our land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/forests-are-the-lungs-of-our-land/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [Until man duplicates a blade of grass, nature can laugh at his so called scientific knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-edison/until-man-duplicates-a-blade-of-grass-nature-can-laugh-at-his-so/) [Thomas A. Edison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-edison/) > [We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldo-leopold/we-abuse-land-because-we-regard-it-as-a-commodity-belonging-to-us-3/) [Aldo Leopold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldo-leopold/) > [All things are bound together. All things connect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chief-seattle/all-things-are-bound-together-all-things-connect/) [Chief Seattle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chief-seattle/) > [Where the quality of life goes down for the environment, the quality of life goes down for humans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-holland/where-the-quality-of-life-goes-down-for-the-environment-the-quality/) George Holland > [I feel more confident than ever that the power to save the planet rests with the individual consumer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-hayes/i-feel-more-confident-than-ever-that-the-power-to-save-the-planet/) [Denis Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-hayes/) > [The day someone quits school he is condemning himself to a future of poverty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-escalante/the-day-someone-quits-school-he-is-condemning-himself-to-a-future-of/) [Jaime Escalante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-escalante/) > [But I can't confront the doubts I have. 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But I don't think we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-emmott/we-urgently-need-to-do-and-i-mean-actually-do-something-radical-to/) Stephen Emmott > [Even leaving aside government policy, whole industries are already making expensive changes around the perceived need to 'go green.' Al Gore and countless other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bradley-a-smith/even-leaving-aside-government-policy-whole-industries-are-already/) [Bradley A. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bradley-a-smith/) > [You could argue that Barack Obama faced in '08 a situation as bad as any president since the Great Depression. What Obama inherited from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/you-could-argue-that-barack-obama-faced-in-08-a-situation-as-bad-as/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) ## More by Barack Obama > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [The peaceful transition of power is one of the hallmarks of our democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/the-peaceful-transition-of-power-is-one-of-the-hallmarks-of-our/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [As opposed to getting into arguments about, well, these folks have been treated fairly so now we're going to be doing things that, very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/as-opposed-to-getting-into-arguments-about-well-these-folks-have-been/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Donald Trump is temperamentally unfit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/donald-trump-is-temperamentally-unfit/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [What we've said to the girls is: 'If you guys ever decide that you're going to get a tattoo, then mommy and me will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/what-we-ve-said-to-the-girls-is-if-you-guys-ever-decide-that-you-re/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Nobody is listening to your telephone calls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/nobody-is-listening-to-your-telephone-calls/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [All of us take offense to anyone who reaps the rewards of living in America without taking on the responsibilities of living in America.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/all-of-us-take-offense-to-anyone-who-reaps-the-rewards-of-living-in/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [The world is complicated and full of grays, but there's still truth there to be found.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/the-world-is-complicated-and-full-of-grays-but-there-s-still-truth/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [ That is another theme in the book \[Dreams from My Father\]. 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Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-americans-understand-the-costs-of-war-yet-as-a-country-we-will/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [I want to thank the Greek people publicly for their humanitarian response to the crisis of so many migrants and refugees seeking safety in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-want-to-thank-the-greek-people-publicly-for-their-humanitarian/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [We had a farewell dinner for some of my senior staff, and generally everybody likes to talk about how cool I was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/we-had-a-farewell-dinner-for-some-of-my-senior-staff-and-generally/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [ It's good to get fresh legs in \[the White house\]. I think that it refreshes our democracy. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/it-s-good-to-get-fresh-legs-in-the-white-house-i-think-that-it/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Believe it or not, entertainment is part of our American diplomacy, it is part of what makes us exceptional, part of what makes us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/believe-it-or-not-entertainment-is-part-of-our-american-diplomacy-it/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) [Explore all 3,624 Barack Obama quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) ## More Catastrophe quotes > [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [I was asked the other day if I would be interested in the Nobel Prize, but I think that for me it would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/i-was-asked-the-other-day-if-i-would-be-interested-in-the-nobel-prize/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [“..the sense of a catastrophe perpetually invoked and avoided creates a rapture in whose depths horror and pleasure coincide...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-leiris/the-sense-of-a-catastrophe-perpetually-invoked-and-avoided-creates-a/) [Michel Leiris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-leiris/) > [To you, the people of Flint, I say, as I have before, I am sorry and I will fix it. No citizen of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-snyder/to-you-the-people-of-flint-i-say-as-i-have-before-i-am-sorry-and-i/) [Rick Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-snyder/) > [Dark influences from the American past congregate among us still. If we are a democracy, what are we to make of the palpable elements…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-bloom/dark-influences-from-the-american-past-congregate-among-us-still-if/) [Harold Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-bloom/) > [It's the hardest thing on earth to like yourself, and then when you do, it's a catastrophe. I mean, the people I know who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/it-s-the-hardest-thing-on-earth-to-like-yourself-and-then-when-you-do/) [Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/) > [We are upsetting the atmosphere upon which all life depends. In the late 80s when I began to take climate change seriously, we referred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-suzuki/we-are-upsetting-the-atmosphere-upon-which-all-life-depends-in-the/) [David Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-suzuki/) > [“War is catastrophe. It breaks families in irretrievable pieces. But those who are gone are not necessarily lost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruta-sepetys/war-is-catastrophe-it-breaks-families-in-irretrievable-pieces-but/) [Ruta Sepetys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruta-sepetys/) > [The biggest catastrophes that we've witnessed rarely come from information that is secret or hidden. It comes from information that is freely available and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-heffernan/the-biggest-catastrophes-that-we-ve-witnessed-rarely-come-from/) [Margaret Heffernan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-heffernan/) > [All the parties of capitalist society, all its moralists and all its sycophants will perish beneath the debris of the impending catastrophe. The only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-trotsky/all-the-parties-of-capitalist-society-all-its-moralists-and-all-its/) [Leon Trotsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-trotsky/) > [When the regime changed in Japan, the Japanese changed; Russians too can change, as long as the conditions for it are present once again.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-voinovich/when-the-regime-changed-in-japan-the-japanese-changed-russians-too/) [Vladimir Voinovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-voinovich/) > [And in the racial climate of this country today, it is anybody's guess which of the 'extremes' in approach to the black man's problems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/and-in-the-racial-climate-of-this-country-today-it-is-anybody-s-guess/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [“But I guess it never is what you worry over that comes to pass in the end. 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