In part of his prepared remarks given today at a White House press conference, President Barack Obama expressed his support for the Waxman-Markey climate bill moving through the House. Thanking members of Congress for their work on the American Clean Energy and Security Act thus far, President Obama urged Congress to press forward and pass the climate legislation likely going to a floor vote later this week.

Calling the bill “extraordinarily important,” Obama said that passage of Waxman-Markey “will finally spark a clean energy transformation that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and confront the carbon pollution that threatens our planet.” Watch the clip: