More welcome action: this time on climate change
by David Atkins
I've noted before that with the Obama Administration stymied on almost every front by the most radical GOP House in history, the President has been left with few options for making a mark in his second term beyond what he can accomplish by executive fiat. We could all wish that such action would prioritize judicial appointments and the use of the Justice Department to prosecute Wall Street. But action on climate change is also extremely welcome, and appears to be at the top of the President's priority list:
President Obama will use his executive authority to cut carbon emissions from the nation’s coal-fired power plants by up to 20 percent, according to people familiar with his plans, and will force industry to pay for the pollution it creates through cap-and-trade programs across the country.
Mr. Obama will unveil his plans in a new regulation, written by the Environmental Protection Agency, at the White House on Monday. It would be the strongest action ever taken by an American president to tackle climate change and could become one of the defining elements of Mr. Obama’s legacy.
Cutting carbon emissions by 20 percent — a substantial amount — would be the most important step in the administration’s pledged goal to reduce pollution over the next six years and could eventually shut down hundreds of coal-fired power plants across the country. The regulation would have far more impact on the environment than the Keystone pipeline, which many administration officials consider a political sideshow, and is certain to be met with opposition from Republicans who say that Mr. Obama will be using his executive authority as a back door to force through an inflammatory cap-and-trade policy he could not get through Congress.
People familiar with the rule say that it will set a national limit on carbon pollution from coal plants, but that it will allow each state to come up with its own plan to cut emissions based on a menu of options that include adding wind and solar power, energy-efficiency technology and creating or joining state cap-and-trade programs. Cap-and-trade programs are effectively carbon taxes that place a limit on carbon pollution and create markets for buying and selling government-issued pollution permits.
Most climate activists would note that even these changes aren't nearly big enough or fast enough, but they're certainly better than nothing, and there's only so much the President can do without Congress.
And as far as legacy items go, how we deal with climate change today will almost certainly be at the top of the list of things future historians will look at when passing judgment on us.
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