President Barack Obama delivers his inaugural address Monday afternoon. (White House)

President Barack Obama did not mention agriculture directly in his second-term inaugural address on Monday, but he did make a new commitment to addressing climate change and to the development of sustainable energy.

During Obama’s first term, farm groups fought hard against a bill on carbon emissions and won that battle.

“We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations,” Obama said. “Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms.”

In a statement with implications for ethanol, biodiesel, solar, wind and other renewable energy sources, Obama also noted that “the path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult.”

“But America cannot resist this transition, we must lead it,” Obama said. “We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries, we must claim its promise. That’s how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure — our forests and waterways, our crop lands and snow-capped peaks.”

On immigration reform, Obama did not mention farm workers or other lowly paid undocumented immigrants, but said, “Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country.”

A New York Times article on the inauguration said that Obama “made addressing climate change the most prominent policy vow of his second Inaugural Address.”

The Times and Politico both noted that it will be difficult to get a cap-and-trade or other climate change bill through Congress, but that Obama is likely to use executive regulatory powers to address the issue.

During the day, Obama sent out a message to supporters urging them to join “Organizing for America,” the new group that the Obama campaign has set up to influence public opinion on policy matters.

• President Obama Inaugural Address