Obama says he will use executive action on climate if needed

WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday the United States needed to do more to fight climate change and told Congress he would do so by executive action if it failed to pursue a market-based system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"I urge this Congress to pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change, like the one John McCain and Joe Lieberman worked on together a few years ago," Obama said, according to the text of his address provided by the White House.

"But if Congress won't act soon to protect future generations, I will. 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," he said.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Jim Loney)