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Conference Organizers Hit the Buzzer as Obama's Climate Speech Goes 11 Minutes Over Schedule

November 30, 2015

The French had a message for President Obama during the climate change talks in Paris on Monday: Wrap it up.

Event organizers hit the buzzer as Obama’s address neared the nine-minute mark, blowing past the U.N.’s requested time limit of three minutes.

Organizers buzzed Obama every 30 seconds for over two minutes for a total of five buzzes, a Free Beacon analysis shows. The buzzer operator evidently gave up for the last three minutes of Obama’s 14-minute address, which exceeded the requested time limit by 11 minutes.

Obama spoke about the international community’s responsibility to take on climate change in his address.

"If we place our own short-term interest behind the air that our young people will breathe, the food they will eat, the water they will drink, and the hopes and dreams that sustain their lives, then we will not be too late for them," Obama said.

The length and stirring rhetoric of Obama’s address are an indication of the importance the president places on climate change relative other concerns. The president’s vigorous performance on Monday can be contrasted with the listless performance he gave two weeks ago when talking about the threat of terrorist groups like the Islamic State.

Obama has touted the voluntary climate agreement he reached with China—although the country, among the world’s most polluted, is building more coal-fired power plants and recently revealed it is burning 17 percent more coal per year than previously reported. The president hopes the Paris talks will result in another agreement to cut carbon emissions.

Whatever the outcome, Obama warned on Monday that climate change, like his speeches, would drag on for a long time.

"Accepting this challenge will not reward us with moments of victory that are clear or quick," Obama said.