U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday called for more action to combat climate change "for the sake of our children and our future."

In his State of the Union address, Obama urged the U.S. Congress to pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to cope with climate change, like the one Senator John McCain and Joe Lieberman worked on together a few years ago.

"If Congress won't act soon to protect future generations, I will," Obama said. "I will direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy."

No single event makes a trend, but the 12 hottest years on record have all come in the last 15 years. Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, and floods -- all are now more frequent and intense, he said.

"We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence," Obama said. "Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science -- and act before it's too late."

Obama has cited climate change as a priority since being re-elected in November. He tried and failed in his first term to get a climate change bill through Congress, which has been mostly silent on climate change since efforts to pass "cap-and-trade" legislation collapsed in the Senate in mid-2010.